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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 

















GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


^ by 

ifRfGILLILAND 

JOHN J? MORGAN 

\ 

^ AND 

Sr N/STEVENS 

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY 
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 



D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY 


. 

BOSTON 

NEW YORK 

CHICAGO 

ATLANTA 

SAN FRANCISCO 

DALLAS 


LONDON 





' Copyright, 1930 and 1935, 

By D. C. Heath and Company 


No part of the material covered by this 
copyright may be reproduced in any form 
without written permission of the publisher. 


3 b 5 




PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OE AMERICA 


APR-11935 

©Cl A 81440 



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PREFACE 


As an experiment, the authors of General Psychology for 
Professional Students decided to use that text for one year in 
their regular college courses in general psychology, with the 
result that they have been using it ever since. They discovered 
that the very features of that book which fitted it to the needs 
of professional students — namely, its emphasis on practical 
applications of the principles of psychology and its avoidance 
of protracted discussions of theory — appealed to other stu¬ 
dents as well. 

This new edition of their earlier work contains numerous 
changes suggested by their classroom experience with it, 
and other changes suggested by the advance in psychological 
knowledge during the past few years. Certain sections of the 
original book have been expanded; others have been elimi¬ 
nated ; new material has been added at various points; and the 
order of presentation of a few topics has been changed. In its 
new form the book both retains its usefulness for professional 
students and meets more exactly the requirements of other stu¬ 
dents in elementary courses in general psychology. 

A. R. GILLILAND 
J. J. B. MORGAN 
S. N. STEVENS 








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* 









TABLE OF CONTENTS 

« PAGE 

Preface . iii 

CHAPTER 

I. Nature and Purpose of Psychology . i 


I. Historical Background of Modern Psychology — II. 
Psychology and Life Intimately Related—III. Neces¬ 
sary Assumptions — IV. Psychology a Branch of Science 
— V. Various Fields of Psycholo gy — VI. How to Get 
the Most from Psychology 

II. The Human Organism. 38 

VII. Typical Structure and Behavior of Some Simple 
Organisms — VIII. General Human Structure and Func¬ 
tion — IX. The Central Nervous System — X. The Auto¬ 
nomic Nervous System — XI. How the Nervous System 
Functions 


III. Innate Behavior. 79 

XII. The Problem of Innate Behavior — XIII. Descrip¬ 
tion of Reflex Patterns — XIV. Instinctive Behavior 

IV. Sensory Processes . *03 

XV. The Function of Sense Organs in Human Adjust¬ 


ments— XVI. Visual Sensitivity — XVII. Auditory Sen¬ 
sitivity— XVIII. Cutaneous Sensitivity — XIX. Gus¬ 
tatory Sensitivity — XX. Olfactory Sensitivity — XXI. 

Other Forms of Sensitivity 

V. Attention . *43 

XXII. Essential Characteristics of Attention — XXIII. 
Determinants of Attention — XXIV. Adjustments Which 
Facilitate Attention — XXV. Making Attention Function 
Effectively 

VI. Perception . r 7 2 

XXVI. The Nature of Perception — XXVII. Perception 
in Daily Life — XXVIII. Perception of Space —XXIX. 
v 


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VI 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

Illusions — XXX. Various Forms of Perceptual Interpre¬ 
tation 

VII. Learning. 207 


XXXI. The Nature of Learning — XXXII. Motivation in 
Learning — XXXIII. Methods of Learning — XXXIV. 

The Laws of Learning — XXXV. Kinds of Learning — 
XXXVI. Habit Formation 

VIII. Learning ( Continued )—Memory. 238 

XXXVII. The Place and Significance of Memory — 
XXXVIII. Fixation —XXXIX. Retention — XL. Re¬ 
call— XLI. Methods of Economy in Learning 


IX. Thinking .. 274 

XLII. Characteristics of Thinking-A XLIII. Thinking 
as Adjustment — XLI V. Imagination — XLV. Reasoning 

X. Emotional Behavior . 300 


XLVI. Emotional Behavior a Form of Adjustment — 
XLVII. Emotional Learning — XLVIII. Measurement 
of Emotions — XLIX. Types of Emotional Reactions 


XI. Mental Alertness. 335 

L. What Is Intelligence ? — LI. Description of Tests of 
Intelligence — LII. The Use of Tests 

XII. Personality . 364 

LIII. Outline of Some Personality Characteristics — 

LIV. Methods of Measuring Personality 

XIII. Social Behavior . 387 

LV. Universality and Significance of Social Behavior — 

LVI. Influence of Learning upon Social Behavior — 

LVII. The Function of Symbolism in Social Behavior 
— LVIII. Social Behavior as Expressed in Organiza¬ 
tions and Institutions 


XIV. Personal Efficiency and Motivation. 

LIX. Analysis of Human Motivation — LX. Complex Ex¬ 
pression of Motives — LXI. Practical Applications of 


# 










TABLE OF CONTENTS 


vii 

PAGE 

the Psychology of Motivation — LXII. Personal Effi¬ 
ciency— LXIII. Indirect Influences upon Efficiency 


XV. Mental Health . 432 

LXIV. Sleep —LXV. Dreams —LXVI. Efficient Use of 
Sleep — LXVII. Hypnosis — LXVIII. Knowledge of 
Psychology Fosters Rational Adjustments 

Index . 457 





GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


CHAPTER I 

NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 

I. Historical Background of Modern Psychology 

Scientific research has a long and interesting history. Its 
roots go deeply into the past and its origins are to be found in 
the earliest strivings of men to understand the nature of the 
world in which they lived and to acquire some control over the 
forces of nature. It is only natural that man should have re¬ 
flected concerning his own inner nature as well as meditated 
upon the nature of things which he experienced outside his 
own being. As man’s convictions concerning himself and his 
fellows crystallized into somewhat definite systems of thought, 
psychology as a subject matter came into being. 

It has been said that psychology is one of the youngest of 
the sciences. This is true. However, as a subject matter about 
which men have thought and written, it is very old. A science 
is distinguished from a subject matter largely in terms of the 
methods by which facts are derived and laws established. It 
was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that men 
began to study the behavior and experience of human beings 
in an experimental fashion, under controlled laboratory con¬ 
ditions. This is why we say that psychology as a science is 
young. However, like every other science, the origins of psy¬ 
chology are to be found in the reflective processes of even the 
earliest human beings who, in so far as they possessed the abil¬ 
ity to do so, generalized on the basis of inductive reasoning 
concerning the cause-effect relationship in the world of their 
experience. 


4 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


cause and effect, while the mind, having an existence of its 
own, was independently subject to its own causation. Psychi¬ 
cal cause and effect ruled the realm of the mind, while physical 
cause and effect dominated the body processes. 

Closely related to Descartes was a group of French and 
English physiologists who discovered much about the structure 
and functions of the human body. One of the outstanding dis¬ 
coveries of this period was the fact that the blood flows from 
the heart through the arteries and capillaries and then back 
to the heart by way of the veins. It was William Harvey, an 
English physiologist, who made this important discovery in 
1628. Other physiologists investigated the structure of the 
sense organs, nerves, muscles, and glands. Upon the basis of 
their findings much of our present knowledge of anatomy, medi¬ 
cine, and psychology is founded. 

Modern Psychology. Although modern psychology draws 
much from the earlier sources about which we have spoken, 
the great impetus which has led psychology to the place it now 
holds among the sciences began about the middle of the nine¬ 
teenth century. Several men, such as Helmholtz, Weber, and 
Fechner, made important contributions, but to Wilhelm Wundt, 
a student of Helmholtz, the principal credit belongs. In 1879 
Wundt established the first psychological laboratory at the Uni¬ 
versity of Leipzig. He made many important contributions to 
psychological knowledge. Many men who later became the 
leaders in the development of psychology as a science, both in 
Europe and the United States, were attracted to Leipzig by 
Wundt’s work and received from him the inspiration and guid¬ 
ance which later bore such satisfactory results. 

William James, who later became a professor of psychology at 
Harvard, was one of these students of Wundt. In the last dec¬ 
ade of the nineteenth century James published his monumental 
work known as The Principles of Psychology , in two volumes. 
This summary of psychological principles has become a classic 



NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 


5 


in the literature, and James himself, because of his great influ¬ 
ence and insight, has become known as the father of American 
psychology. 

Edward Bradford Titchener also studied under Wundt. Al¬ 
though an Englishman by birth, he spent the productive years 
of his life in the United States. At Cornell University he es¬ 
tablished one of the great psychological laboratories in this 
country. By means of an experimental technique known as in¬ 
trospection, Titchener and his students attempted to analyze 
complex mental states into the simpler mental elements of which 
they were composed. He attempted to study the structure of 
mental life. 

In many respects directly in contrast with the point of view 
of the introspectionists is that of the objectivists or behaviorists 
as they are more often called. While later in development than 
the other, this point of view has had a profound influence upon 
psychological thought in America. It emphasizes the impor¬ 
tance of behavior as the subject of study and minimizes or 
denies the importance of consciousness as a subject for study in 
psychology. This point of view was first systematized and 
popularized by John B. Watson. 

Other men who were stimulated by the example of Wundt 
attempted to explore new fields and establish new points of 
view in psychology. James McKeen Cattell became interested 
in the problems of individual differences and pioneered in the 
development of the field of mental tests. E. L. Thorndike of 
Teachers College, Columbia University, also has made impor¬ 
tant contributions to the psychology of individual differences, 
through the study of animal behavior and through the develop¬ 
ment of tests and measures of human variability. Equally 
prominent is Lewis M. Terman, professor of psychology at 
Leland Stanford University, whose revision of the Stanford- 
Binet intelligence test is one of the most widely used instru¬ 
ments in the measurement of mental ability. 


6 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Another important development occurred in the early twen¬ 
tieth century, which has become known as industrial psychol¬ 
ogy. Some investigators became interested in the possibilities 
of applying psychological technique to the solution of problems 
in business and industry. One of the earliest American investi¬ 
gators in this field was Hugo Miinsterberg, who, while he was 
professor of psychology at Harvard, studied the problem of the 
selection and training of street-car motormen. Walter Dill 
Scott of Northwestern University pioneered in the application 
of psychological principles to advertising and selling. The field 
of industrial psychology has greatly expanded and its techniques 
have been improved by numerous investigators both in this 
country and in Germany. 

Finally, the science of psychology owes much to those men 
who have aided in the development of statistical techniques by 
means of which the complicated data derived from psychologi¬ 
cal experimentation are arranged, classified, and interpreted. 
Among the many men who have made outstanding contribu¬ 
tions to this phase of the science are Truman Lee Kelly of 
Harvard University and L. L. Thurstone of the University of 
Chicago. 

The literature in the field of psychology is rich and varied. 
A number of journals exist which contain source material of 
both an experimental and a theoretical character. The Ameri¬ 
can Journal of Psychology, one of the oldest professional jour¬ 
nals in this field, was founded in 1887. G. Stanley Hall was 
its first editor. The Psychological Review was founded in 
1894, and was edited by J. Mark Baldwin. These journals con¬ 
tain experimental and critical material. Typical of develop¬ 
ments in several fields are the following journals of more recent 
origin: Journal of Experimental Psychology, founded in 1916; 
Journal of Applied Psychology, begun in 1917; and Journal of 
General Psychology, founded in 1928. 

A brief summary of some of the significant methods and 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 


7 


points of view in psychology has been presented in the preced¬ 
ing paragraphs. No attempt has been made to list all the im¬ 
portant workers who have contributed to our psychological in¬ 
formation. For the sake of simplicity and brevity the review 
has emphasized the developments in America and has given 
relatively less attention to contemporary investigations in Eu¬ 
rope and other parts of the world. This meager account of the 
beginnings of modern psychology will be elaborated in later 
sections of the text. 


II. Psychology and Life Intimately Related 

As civilization advances, man must adjust himself more and 
more to those around him. He must know more psychology 
than his forefathers did. In general, the higher order of vo¬ 
cations requires a wider knowledge of human nature than the 
lower order. The professional man — the lawyer, the physi¬ 
cian, the teacher, the executive, the salesman, and the adver¬ 
tiser— will find psychology especially valuable. 

As civilization becomes more complex, the adjustments of 
any particular individual to the society in which he lives be¬ 
come more and more dependent upon his understanding of hu¬ 
man nature. In a primitive environment man is more or less 
self-sufficient, but in a civilized community his activities be¬ 
come highly specialized; he does work which contributes to the 
welfare of others and his very life depends upon the work that 
others are doing. Each man is a highly specialized part of an 
intricate organization and he must recognize more and more 
that his very existence depends upon the degree of success he 
achieves in fulfilling adequately his part of the program of 
civilization. 

In some of the more humble occupations of life, an under¬ 
standing of people is not so important as it is in others. One 
may have a menial, routine task for which he is paid a wage 


8 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


with which he is able to buy the things he needs. He can exist 
with but few social adjustments and even these few may be 
very faulty. But as one advances in the occupational scale, 
especially when one engages in a profession, the interdepend¬ 
ence of human beings becomes more striking. To-day every 
professional man feels the need of at least some practical 
knowledge of psychology. We shall now consider the prin¬ 
cipal methods by which such a knowledge may be obtained. 

Methods for Acquiring a Knowledge of Psychology. A 

knowledge of psychology may be gained by several methods, 
not all of them equally good. 

1. From experience . Some professional men believe that a 
knowledge of psychology must be acquired by a hit-and-miss 
method through actual contact with people. Advocates of this 
theory advise young men to enter active professional life and 
learn by experience how other men think and act. Psychology 
may be studied in this manner, but it is an extremely costly 
method. It would be just as reasonable to urge that a child 
learn to avoid speeding automobiles by being left to run about 
in a busy section of the city. The majority of children would 
learn by this method, just as chickens, dogs, and cats learn to 
avoid being run over, but a great number would be killed in 
the process. Young men and women entering a professional 
career should be equipped with a knowledge of human be¬ 
havior if they are to be successful in their dealings with others. 

2. By studying theories. Another group of persons, com¬ 
posed largely of academic psychologists, states that the only 
way to learn psychology is to study all the intricate details of 
psychological theory, avoiding all reference to any practical 
application of the theory until a thorough theoretical ground¬ 
work has been laid. Such a procedure too often eliminates all 
interest in the subject, and many students are repelled, instead 
of becoming more fascinated, by the subject as they proceed. 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 


9 


Certainly no subject of study is more fascinating than that of 
human nature, and surely scientific approach to a subject is not 
in the least incompatible with interest. 

3. By emphasis upon the spectacular. Other writers, appeal¬ 
ing to the spectacular, have produced various combinations of 
superstition and nonsense under the guise of psychology. In 
such books one can find fables, folklore, fairy tales, politics, and 
religion. All of these types of literature have value, but why 
call them psychology? 

4. By interest of application combined with scientific accu¬ 
racy. The authors of this book believe that, without detracting 
from the scientific accuracy of the facts, on the one hand, or 
without making unwarranted generalizations, on the other, 
sound psychological theory can be presented in such a manner 
that the professional student can see how it may be utilized in 
his particular field. Let us illustrate from another field the 
principle we have in mind. One of the authors, some years 
ago, was studying physics in a high school. In the laboratory 
he constructed a microphone by placing in loose contact two 
pieces of carbon. When the microphone was placed in an 
electrical circuit, any vibration changed the resistance between 
the carbon contacts so that this change could be observed on 
a voltmeter or detected in a telephone receiver. Neither the 
instructor nor the textbook mentioned the application of this 
principle. Some years later, the author discovered that all 
telephone transmitters are microphones. It would not have 
detracted from the scientific accuracy of this laboratory ex¬ 
periment or decreased the students’ interest in it if the prac¬ 
tical applications had been explained. 

This is the principle which the authors of this book plan to 
follow throughout. They will adhere rigidly to scientific ac¬ 
curacy in their presentation, but will attempt to indicate, 
wherever possible, how the principles apply to conduct in one’s 
professional contacts. 


10 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Value of Psychology for Specific Professions. Too often 
the young professional student finds his time so occupied with 
acquiring the materials directly essential to his profession that 
he has no time for the study of psychology. It is only when he 
gets into actual work that he becomes keenly aware of the need 
for this knowledge. Then his frantic search for some material 
that will help him to understand people yields but a scanty and 
superficial grasp of psychological principles. It would be more 
to his advantage to get the groundwork of psychology early in 
his training so that a knowledge of human behavior would be¬ 
come definitely related to his professional training. A survey 
of some of the situations in different professions where psy¬ 
chology is directly applicable will make this fact clearly 
apparent. 

1. The lawyer needs psychology. Laws are formulated in a 
direct attempt to regulate the behavior of men in social situa¬ 
tions. If the laws are formulated to fit human needs, they will 
be obeyed by normal persons and will stand the test of time. 
Those which go counter to psychological principles tend toward 
eventual failure, as the history of law has amply demonstrated. 
In the application of laws, knowledge of human behavior is 
even more essential. This is especially true in the field of 
criminology. To cope with crime, it is not enough to ascertain 
that a crime was committed; we must know something of the 
psychology of the criminal; we must learn why he committed 
the crime and discern the motivation behind the act. If a man 
steals a pocketbook, it may be more important to know why 
he did it than to know how much money was in the pocketbook. 
Only in this way can we arrive at a judgment of the enormity 
of the offense. The old conception of punishment as a means 
of revenge is giving way to the new conception of punishment as 
a means of stopping criminality. 

2. The physician needs psychology. Mental health and 
physical health go hand in hand, as every practitioner of medi- 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 


ii 


cine knows. The offices of medical men are crowded with per¬ 
sons whose bodies are perfect but whose minds are sick. The 
old method of dismissing such patients with a shrug and the 
assurance that there is nothing wrong with them, that “ it is all 
in their imaginations,” is giving way to an adequate under¬ 
standing by every practitioner of the nature of imaginary ills. 
Even when there is a genuine physical disease, the mental life 
of the patient has a direct influence on the course of that dis¬ 
order. Digestive disturbances may be precipitated by emo¬ 
tional crises. A depression may so lower the bodily tone of a 
person that he becomes susceptible to the ravages of disease in 
a way that would not be possible were he happy. The develop¬ 
ment of occupational therapy, whereby patients are kept busy 
and contented, is an acknowledgment on the part of the medical 
profession that contentment is a healing agent. A practitioner 
who knows enough of human behavior to try to convince his 
patient that he is doing something for him is sure to be more 
successful than the one who gruffly dispenses drugs without 
considering that he is dealing with a human being. A medical 
student is much better prepared for his profession by having a 
knowledge of psychology. 

3. Education is applied psychology. The modern educator 
recognizes that his profession is essentially an application of 
psychology. We no longer arrange the subject matter of a 
study without a consideration of the learning process. The 
educator needs to be very familiar with the laws of learning. 
He must guide his student so that the material learned will be¬ 
come a part of the student’s life and will so stimulate him that 
after he leaves the educational institution he will continue to 
use not only the material, but also the methods, he was taught 
in school. Education has come to be focussed upon the learner 
rather than upon the material to be learned. The result has 
been a continual raising of academic standards, as is evidenced 
by the fact that we are now teaching high-school pupils many 


12 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


subjects which some years ago were restricted to courses of 
college grade. 

4. Psychology is valuable in industry. Modern industry is 
replete with psychological applications. Along with the de¬ 
velopment of mass production and mechanical manufacturing 
devices goes the complex problem of training men to guide the 
machinery of production. Under the old regime a disgruntled 
laborer whose work was of the wholly unskilled type might have 
little direct influence upon the total efficiency of a manufac¬ 
turing establishment, but a careless or a sullen worker to-day 
can upset a whole establishment. Great stress is now placed 
on employee-employer relationships. 

Another consequence of modern industrial organization is the 
distance between employer and employee. Under the old 
method of household production there was a close relationship 
between employer and employee, the employer usually work¬ 
ing along with his helpers. In the modern large industry there 
is practically no chance for any such acquaintanceship. There¬ 
fore the problems of hiring, placement, promotion, and dis¬ 
charging must be handled by others instead of by the employer 
himself. These are all problems of personal relations, and 
hence are largely psychological. 

5. Selling is a problem in psychology. Most buying and 
selling is dependent upon the personal relationship of the sales¬ 
man to the prospective purchaser. The shrewd salesman care¬ 
fully analyzes the methods of selling. He finds that his suc¬ 
cess depends primarily upon three things: (1) his knowledge 
of the product to be sold, (2) his knowledge and control of 
himself as the person who is to modify the conduct of the cus¬ 
tomer, and (3) his knowledge of the mental processes of the 
customer and the steps by which the latter arrives at a de¬ 
cision to buy or not to buy. 

The buyer, to be shrewd, should also know the laws of psy¬ 
chology. He should know how to interpret the behavior of the 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 


13 


salesman and be able to analyze the influences the salesman is 
bringing to bear. Is he being influenced by the personal charm 
of the salesman, by a play upon his emotional attitudes, by em¬ 
phasis upon some silly detail about the product, by. fallacious 
arguments which have the appearance of rationality, or is he be¬ 
ing made familiar with a product and learning how this product 
will minister to his wants? 

6. Psychology is used in advertising. A knowledge of hu¬ 
man nature is especially important in advertising. Advertisers 
are not content to know that a certain advertisement has pro¬ 
duced results; they want to know the reason for its success so 
that they may utilize the knowledge in forthcoming advertising 
campaigns. The business man probably knows as keenly as 
anybody the cash value of a knowledge of human psychology. 


III. Necessary Assumptions 

The reader is asked to accept tentatively, as a working 
foundation, the truth of four statements. These are: (1) 
Human conduct operates according to definite laws. (2) Ad¬ 
herence to rigid scientific procedure will enable us to discover 
these laws. (3) The operation of these laws in life will prob¬ 
ably be very complex. (4) Great individual differences will 
be found in all phases of human life. 

An open-minded attitude on the part of the student pre¬ 
cludes the possibility of opinions becoming fixed before he has 
had an opportunity to test them. But he will find it advisable 
to begin with a very few tentative hypotheses which he agrees 
to accept as true, at least until facts have demonstrated that 
they are false. These hypotheses are so fundamental that it 
would be useless to proceed unless we assumed their truth. Al¬ 
though they could be proved, they are so obvious that they are 
axiomatic. If we accept them, they will serve as a good founda¬ 
tion upon which to build a psychological superstructure. 


14 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Human Conduct Is Orderly. The first principle which we 
need to accept is that human conduct is orderly. If there were 
no laws of human conduct, we could expect only endless con¬ 
fusion. For centuries it was believed that each individual was 
a law unto himself, that each man could do just as he pleased, 
and that any attempt to predict human conduct was totally 
futile. To-day it is generally accepted that mental life does 
follow laws, and the study of psychology includes an attempt to 
formulate these laws scientifically. 

Mental Life Is Subject to Scientific Study. Laws in 
branches of knowledge other than psychology have been dis¬ 
covered by following a definite method which has come to be 
known as the scientific method. If we are to define the laws 
of mental life, the same method must be used. While we may 
be convinced in our own thinking that a certain principle is 
sound, we should refrain from assuming the correctness of such 
a principle unless it can be demonstrated by scientific method. 
Science does not deny things which it has not proved; it simply 
maintains an attitude of skepticism until such a demonstration 
is forthcoming. The elements of such scientific procedure we 
shall outline presently. 

Mental Life Is Complex. To state that mental life is or¬ 
derly does not imply that it is simple. In fact it is so complex 
that it is baffling at many points and, even though we may dis¬ 
cover laws which operate, we must bear in mind that probably 
no single act is determined by a single cause, but by a complex 
group of causes. This fact makes it quite unlikely that we 
shall ever come to such a complete understanding of all the laws 
of mental life that we can predict exactly what will happen in 
the life of any single individual. But as we come to a more 
precise appreciation of the major laws of human conduct, we 
shall be able to predict with some degree of assurance that 
behavior will fall within a certain range. For example, psy¬ 
chologists have found that if a person lifts two blocks of equal 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 15 

weight which are apparently made of the same material but 
one of which is much larger than the other, the smaller one will 
be judged to be heavier than the larger one. Thus, we have a 
high degree of expectancy that a person lifting these two 
weights will tell us that the smaller one is heavier. But we 
may encounter a stubborn person who says that the larger one 
is heavier, or another person who knows about the illusion and 
states that they both weigh the same, or still another person 
who may be suspicious and refuse to answer at all. Hence, we 
cannot be absolutely certain what the reply will be unless we 
know all the factors operative in the response of a particular 
individual. But such a condition does not vitiate the principle 
that laws are operative; it is merely an acknowledgment of the 
complexity of life. 

Individuals Differ. In what is ordinarily called general 
psychology, the aim is to discover principles of conduct which 
may be expected to operate with a fair degree of uniformity in 
all individuals. The knowledge of such laws helps us in our 
prediction of what individuals will do under various conditions. 
The more accurately such laws can be stated, the more valuable 
our psychology becomes. For example, we know that a person 
cannot perceive and remember readily more than about seven 
digits. If we had automobile license numbers of greater length, 
such as 8374928384, they would be useless. Such a number 
could not be used for identification unless one had time to copy 
it. Even such a number as 837492 is hard to grasp. Another 
principle helps here. If numbers are grouped, they are per¬ 
ceived more readily and remembered better. Consequently, if 
we group the number by using a hyphen, as 837-492, we have 
made it a symbol which becomes much more serviceable. Such 
general principles are most valuable. 

However, a fact which must be considered is that individuals 
differ so widely in their mental constitutions that the laws which 
we discover will operate in different combinations in different 


i6 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


persons. Although this makes our problem more difficult, at 
the same time it furnishes one of the great fascinations of 
human psychology. After we have learned all we can, we must 
reinterpret our laws in the light of every new situation we en¬ 
counter. There is a tendency, after we have observed one 
person, to assume that another person who resembles him in 
one respect must also resemble him in other respects. Such an 
assumption will lead only to confusion. All laws need specific 
interpretations in concrete situations, but this is especially true 
in psychology. 

The four assumptions discussed in this section are the guid¬ 
ing principles behind modern psychology. By remembering 
them, we may keep the aim of psychological study before us 
without running into the danger of making unwarranted 
assumptions from too few data. 

IV. Psychology a Branch of Science 

Every branch of science must conform to the methods of in¬ 
vestigation which science has found to be valid. In addition 
each branch must develop specific procedures, called tech¬ 
niques, which it alone uses. These techniques cannot violate 
the general principles of scientific procedure; they are merely 
elaborations of it. In this section we shall outline the gen¬ 
eral principles of scientific method, and then indicate the 
specific techniques which psychology uses. 

Since the beginning of history men have tried to discover the 
laws which control the universe. Some men have guessed at 
them, some have stumbled upon them; but much of the knowl¬ 
edge we possess has come from rigid investigations. Of the 
theories that developed from the work, study, guesses, and good 
fortune of our forefathers only those have stood the test of 
time which can be verified by those rigid procedures which 
we call scientific method. What is meant by the scientific 
method? 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 


i7 


Essential Steps in Scientific Procedure. Psychology, the 
youngest of the sciences, should be just as rigid in conforming 
to the rules of scientific method as any of the older sciences. 
While each of the following steps is essential to scientific pro¬ 
cedure, we should bear in mind that not in every investigation 
are the steps adhered to in the exact sequence in which they are 
here stated; but the logical outline presented will serve to get 
the method of science clearly before us. 

1. Awareness that a problem exists. Before there can be 
any scientific work, there must be at least a vague realization 
that there is a problem to be solved. In some instances it may 
be merely a dissatisfaction with things as they exist; in others 
there may be an acute problem calling for solution. For ex¬ 
ample, if people are dying because of the epidemic of an un¬ 
known disease, everyone is aware that physicians are con¬ 
fronted with a problem for scientific investigation. If sales are 
falling off, the business executive is confronted with a problem 
for study. In short, dissatisfaction with things as they exist, 
or as they are explained, is the stimulus for scientific study. To 
such dissatisfaction one might react by fear, as our superstitious 
forefathers did; by worry, as one may when the solution looks 
hopeless; by resignation, as the martyr does; or by some other 
attitude. The only sane method of meeting a difficulty is to 
attempt to discover the laws behind the situation. This at¬ 
tempt will lead directly to the succeeding steps in scientific 
procedure. 

2. The accumulation of data. All scientific investigations 
involve the collection of data bearing on the question in hand. 
Great care must be exercised to insure accurate data. For this 
purpose instruments of precision are used wherever it is pos¬ 
sible to do so. We measure, weigh, count, and otherwise aug¬ 
ment crude observation. The scientist is not content with the 
statement that a loud sound was produced; he employs instru¬ 
ments of precision in order that sounds of the same intensity, 


l8 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

quality, and duration can be used by other investigators to 
check his findings. He is not content with such qualitative ad¬ 
jectives as short, long, red, or heavy. He measures in feet 
and inches or on some other scale; he locates color on the spec¬ 
trum or states its components in accurate terms; he denotes the 
specific gravity of an object or otherwise compares it with some 
standard. 

The accumulation of data, no matter how accurately it may 
be done, does not in itself constitute scientific method. A per¬ 
son might very painstakingly measure the length of every blade 
of grass on a lawn, but of what value would that be? To be 
sure, such data might conceivably be used, but usually there is 
some specific and practical objective for the accumulation of 
data. One accomplishes more if he has some particular ques¬ 
tion he is desirous of answering and collects his data in fields 
related to that query. The danger in this procedure is that the 
question may bias one in the accumulation of his facts. He 
may seek those facts which will answer his question the way he 
would like to have it answered. One has to select his data, but 
he should do so impartially. 

3. Organization of data. As facts are gathered, they are 
found to be related to each other in certain ways. The function 
of the scientist is to classify these facts as they come to hand. 
Science is in large part a study of relationships, which become 
apparent as the data are sifted and organized logically, accord¬ 
ing to sequence, similarity, and the like. 

Here again one must be cautious. The classifications must 
be regarded as tentative, to be shifted, if necessary, as new 
materials are added. For example, failure to observe this cau¬ 
tion has led to the fallacy that succession indicates a causal re¬ 
lationship. One might collect instances where thinking of an 
absent person was followed by the appearance of that person 
and, from these instances, be led to believe that the thinking 
was a premonition, a mysterious message from the person, or 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY iq 

that the thinking influenced the person’s conduct and caused 
him to appear. 

4. The formulation of theories. With facts gathered and or¬ 
ganized, explanatory theories naturally present themselves. 
One begins to speculate as to the meaning of what he has found. 
Such speculation is a legitimate part of science, but it is not an 
end in itself. We have already intimated that the collection of 
data and the organization of those data are directed by the 
speculative hypotheses of the investigator. Without some 
speculation our research would often be pointless. But the 
scientist must keep clearly in mind which part of his findings 
is the result of direct evidence and which part is a hypothetical 
interpretation of that evidence. The shrewd scientist is con¬ 
tinually formulating theories, but he never regards these theo¬ 
ries as proved until they have been tested by experiment. 

5. Experiment. The man who takes his speculations too 
seriously finds no real need of experimental corroboration. It 
is when we question our hypotheses that we sense the need of 
some sort of controlled observation to determine the truth or 
falsity of our reasoning. For example, most persons are con¬ 
vinced that noises are harmful to the human organism. Such 
a belief is based on more or less scattered observations. Indi¬ 
viduals testify that when they are subjected to noises — for ex¬ 
ample, when they take a trip to the shopping center of a large 
city on a noisy elevated or subway train — they are completely 
exhausted. One might accumulate a vast quantity of such testi¬ 
monial material, but can one be sure from such accumulated 
evidence that noises are detrimental? What can be done to 
determine the answer to this problem? The first flaw that the 
scientific man observes in this evidence is that a trip to the 
shopping center means not only subjection to noises, but a cer¬ 
tain amount of jolting, the strain of shopping, eating in unac¬ 
customed places and perhaps at unusual hours, the strain of 
talking to persons, an unusual amount of walking and standing, 


20 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


and various other conditions. Is the fatigue at the end of the 
day the result of all of these or more particularly of one factor? 
The only way to answer this question is to keep all factors con¬ 
stant or inoperative except one, and to determine the influence 
of this one factor. If we are concerned with noise, we must 
subject ourselves to noise without the addition of the other ele¬ 
ments that enter into a noisy shopping day. This is the essence 
of experiment — to permit only one factor to operate at a time 
and to observe with careful checks and instruments of precision 
the results of this one factor. 

6 . Prediction. The final test of the validity of a scientific 
finding is predictability. If the astronomer, through the ap¬ 
plication of his laws, predicts the coming of Halley’s comet at 
a certain time and in a certain place, the coming of the comet 
at that time and place evidences the correctness of his laws, as 
well as his applications of them to this particular situation. 
The predictions that we are able to make in psychology may 
not be absolute or unvarying as they are in some other sciences, 
but this is the goal for which all sciences strive. If a child 
touches a hot stove, we can predict that he will manifest some 
hesitation about touching it on a future occasion. If we direct 
a bright light into the eye of a person, we can predict with a 
fair degree of certainty that the pupil will contract. In some 
instances, the pupil will not contract, a fact which indicates 
an unusual condition in that individual, probably the result of 
a disease which affects that particular reaction. If we made 
a thorough study of such a person’s eye, we could predict just 
how much his pupil would contract with a light of a certain 
intensity applied for a certain length of time. 

Degrees of Scientific Certainty. While the goal of science 
is such complete certainty, based on experimental evidence, 
that absolute predictability is possible, the findings in any 
specific field vary in their approach to this goal, so that we 
have degrees of validity ranging all the way from sheer guesses 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 


21 


to absolute laws. The student needs to keep this fact before 
him and to learn to evaluate the various facts that are dis¬ 
played before him. Because a particular finding has not been 
fully substantiated, it should not necessarily be rejected, but 
it should be valued for what it is — a hypothesis which may or 
may not be substantiated by further research. To apply to 
any statement the qualifying term scientific does not mean that 
the statement should be accepted; it merely means that scien¬ 
tific methods have been used in its formulation. The degree to 
which it is to be accepted depends upon the extent to which 
the scientific method has been applied. With this clearly un¬ 
derstood, the term scientific ceases to be a fetish. 

Certain principles may help us to evaluate the different 
hypotheses which we encounter. These principles, based largely 
upon the way in which the hypothesis was reached, are nu¬ 
merous, but we shall consider a few which may be used as 
guides in an attempt at evaluation. 

i. Theories substantiated by experiment are the most valid. 
When a theory has stood the test of experiment — when, that 
is, it has been tried out under carefully controlled conditions, 
with all possible variables either held constant or eliminated 
except the one in question — the student can place great con¬ 
fidence in the results. To be sure, some experiments may be 
faulty and one needs to evaluate very critically the procedure 
followed, but, assuming that the experiment has been con¬ 
ducted carefully, one can place great reliance upon the theories 
which have stood this test. Before any theory is accepted, we 
have a right to demand that it be submitted to this test. For 
example, we may be told that at a spiritualistic seance the 
voices of the departed were heard. Unless such voices can be 
heard under laboratory conditions, where # all chances for de¬ 
ception have been eliminated, all opportunity for extraneous 
sounds that might be interpreted as voices removed, and unless 
the conditions of experiment are such that it can be performed 


22 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


with success by anyone who follows directions, one is justified 
in being skeptical. 

2. Theories based on analogy are ojten unreliable. An anal¬ 
ogy provides a forceful means of illustrating a point clearly, 
but it has no place in the realm of scientific evidence. Anal¬ 
ogies stimulate the imagination and a hypothesis so derived 
may prove to be sound, but there is an equal chance that it may 
prove to be unsound. For example, we may compare the mind 
to a tabula rasa, a smooth waxy plate upon which the various 
experiences of life leave their mark, but such an analogy does 
not prove that every experience does leave an ineradicable mark 
upon the mind. Experience may leave such traces, but the 
analogy does not help to substantiate it. Other evidence is 
needed. We may sing, “ But the bird with a broken pinion 
never soars so high again,” but this does not prove that an act 
once committed can never be compensated for. The layman 
is very likely to take a forceful analogy as a very striking argu¬ 
ment, whereas it is the weakest possible argument. 

3. Anecdotes may distort perspective. Most sciences go 
through what might be called an anecdotal stage, a period in 
which most of the data consist of stories collected to illustrate 
supposed principles. A great deal of so-called psychology is 
still of this order. A business man will tell how he influenced 
another to take part in some transaction, concluding his story 
with the statement that this proves that men may be influenced 
by the methods he used. He may be right, but his story does 
not prove it. Such stories may serve to formulate hypotheses 
and may stimulate research, but the student of human nature 
will find himself sadly astray if he places any confidence in 
anecdotes as such. If you wish to convince an audience of a 
point, you may be # able to do it much better by telling an 
illustrative story than by citing great quantities of evidence, 
but this simply indicates the credulity of your audience and not 
the soundness of the story as a piece of scientific evidence. A 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 23 

story may emphasize unimportant details, it may omit essential 
elements, or it may stress relationships between parts in such 
a manner as wholly to mislead the hearer. Although a story 
will stimulate interest in a subject and clarify an issue, its value 
as scientific evidence is extremely limited. 

4. Sweeping generalizations are dangerous. Another handi¬ 
cap to scientific thinking is the tendency to make generaliza¬ 
tions on the basis of meager facts. It is so easy to make 
dogmatic and unwarranted statements that one may easily over¬ 
look the dangers that lurk in them. An executive who finds 
a man with a gold tooth to be incompetent decides never to 
hire men with gold teeth. If this executive happens to be suc¬ 
cessful in business, his decision is likely to be accepted as au¬ 
thoritative by the unthinking or uninformed. As a matter of 
fact, success usually depends upon one’s willingness to search 
for evidence in support of his theories and to abandon his 
theories if the evidence indicates that they are wrong. Gen¬ 
eralizations, then, are theories that should be held only ten¬ 
tatively while one continues to gather more data and perform 
further experimentation. 

The point to be stressed in this discussion is that theories may 
be derived by means of analogies, anecdotes, generalizations, or 
mere chance, but the conclusions so reached are merely specula¬ 
tive. Theories are essential to science, but they must be re¬ 
garded only as ways of thinking and not as types of evidence. 
As we have indicated previously, the ultimate test of any theory 
— the test which it must pass before it deserves the rank of a 
law — is the test of prediction. 

Specific Techniques of Psychology. While every science, 
regardless of its subject matter, must adhere to the scientific 
method which we have outlined, each science develops its own 
peculiar techniques. These techniques are determined largely 
by the nature of the materials to be studied and the difficulties 
of approach that each one presents. The development of tech- 


24 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


niques for the scientific study of psychology has been especially 
difficult because of the intricacy of human nature. 

The techniques which psychology has developed are, at best, 
imperfect, but, even with their limitations, they have yielded 
much of value. At first psychology borrowed from the tech¬ 
niques of other sciences. Biology, embryology, physiology, 
anatomy, and neurology have all contributed their share. 
While help may be secured from patterning after other sciences, 
such a procedure brings with it some limitations, and no doubt 
psychology has been somewhat hampered by following too 
strictly the techniques of other sciences. 

The study of the sense organs in psychology has, for the 
most part, been taken directly from physiology. Our knowl¬ 
edge of the hereditary mechanisms of the human being have 
been borrowed from genetics. Our theories of the modifica¬ 
tions of the nervous system have been gathered largely from 
neurology. Our study of the human organism as a reacting 
mechanism has been dependent upon the methods of physiol¬ 
ogy. But in addition to these borrowed techniques, psychology 
has developed more or less independently four techniques of its 
own, which we shall now consider in some detail. 

i. The introspective technique. The essential nature of in¬ 
trospection is the observation of one’s own mental processes. 
Such a procedure is not so easy as it might appear. Mental 
activity is never very simple and to observe its complex activity 
at any one time and report accurately upon it requires con¬ 
siderable skill. In ordinary life we are accustomed to ignore 
many experiences and to emphasize others. The person who 
gives a true introspective report must check such tendencies 
and give an accurate account of every phase of mental activity. 
As an aid to introspection, the individual is usually placed in 
a situation where the outside conditions are carefully con¬ 
trolled and are simplified as much as possible, but even in such 
circumstances, his introspective observations must be repeated 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 25 

a great number of times before they can become acceptable as 
scientific data. 

Introspection has been most useful in furnishing information 
in the study of sensations, feelings, and emotions, and some 
forms of intellectual processes. What sensation a person ex¬ 
periences when the light rays from a red object enter his eye, 
he alone knows. When he sets about to report the nature of 
such a sensation, he encounters difficulty. If two persons re¬ 
port a sensation of red, the hearer of these reports does not 
know whether both persons have had the same experience. 
This difficulty may be illustrated by asking for reports on color 
sensations from a color-blind person. One who cannot distin¬ 
guish reds from greens by means of the hues may under cer¬ 
tain conditions call a red by its proper name and say that it 
is different from a green. When brightness and saturation are 
kept constant, however, such a person finds it impossible to 
differentiate the two, a fact which shows that his report was 
not based on a discrimination of hue. This and similar situa¬ 
tions which psychology has discovered make it imperative to 
accept the crude observations of introspection with some skep¬ 
ticism and to check them under various conditions. If these 
precautions are taken, the introspective reports may be used as 
scientific data. In so far as introspective reports give data 
which may be verified by prediction, they are valuable. 

2. Observation of behavior. The observation of the be¬ 
havior of an individual in varying situations is another tech¬ 
nique which psychology has developed. Very few, if any, of 
our mental processes take place without some overt behavior 
accompanying them. Some types of behavior are very easily 
observed. For example, if a person is learning to operate a 
typewriter, accurate records may be made of his speed and ac¬ 
curacy as he proceeds which will furnish an objective account 
of his learning. In other types of activity the overt acts are 
not so apparent. For example, if one is doing mental multipli- 


26 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


cation, the various steps involved in the process cannot be 
followed by an observer. One may observe various grimaces, 
counting on the fingers, squirming about on the chair, scratch¬ 
ing of the head, and the like, but, in this case, if we are to know 
the various steps by means of which our subject arrives at his 
solution, we must depend upon his report. If he is clever at 
controlling his overt behavior, he may be going through numer¬ 
ous intellectual processes without our knowing the nature of 
these processes at all. 

For the man who is to apply his psychology to the practical 
study of his fellows, the advantages of the method of objective 
observation are apparent. It is difficult for a person to give 
a correct introspective report even when he tries his best to be 
accurate; but if he is not concerned with giving the observer an 
accurate report, or if he is bent on deceiving him, introspection 
fails miserably. On the other hand, since the observational 
technique attempts to interpret all overt behavior, including 
signs of deceit as well as other acts, it is a valuable technique for 
the professional man to use in his attempts to study others. If 
the prospective customer tells a salesman that he is not inter¬ 
ested in his goods, only a poor salesman takes the statement at 
its face value. The student of human nature will look for in¬ 
direct signs by which to tell whether his customer is really disin¬ 
terested or whether he is afraid to manifest an interest for fear 
of buying too hurriedly. 

3. The statistical technique. We have pointed out the fact 
that psychological laws must be formulated on the basis of data 
taken from a large number of observations and from persons 
who differ in a great many respects. This gives us a large ac¬ 
cumulation of observations closely related but differing in de¬ 
gree. The statistical technique was devised to interpret diverse 
material which otherwise would be too cumbersome to analyze. 
Statistics is not confined to psychology, but is used in all bio¬ 
logical and social sciences where one must get an accurate 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 27 

measure of variable quantities. In measuring any biological 
characteristic, it is not enough to have a fine scale of measure¬ 
ment. For example, we have a well-developed linear scale, but 
this does not enable us to answer in one simple statement the 
question, “ How tall are men? ” Since men vary in height, we 
must answer such a question in statistical terms. We may 
state that practically all men are within the range of five feet 
and seven feet. We can supplement this statement by giving 
the average height of men; or we can state what proportion of 
men fall within a certain range, say between five feet and six 
feet. In any particular instance, we can state how far a man 
deviates from the average of all men. Statistical concepts such 
as these have been very valuable in the study of psychology. 

In using the statistical technique, one should not forget that 
he is dealing only with an accumulation of data and that these 
data can do no more than furnish evidence for or against cer¬ 
tain psychological or biological theories. A single fact, being 
merely part of an anecdote, deserves little weight in the prov¬ 
ing of a theory; but an accumulation of anecdotal facts pro¬ 
vides us with statistical material. Such accumulated material, 
however, is still nothing more than evidence, making us more 
or less certain of the theory it involves. It should never be as¬ 
sumed that statistical data obviate the need of experimental 
verification. Experiment, and not statistics, furnishes the ulti¬ 
mate criterion. 

4. The case-study technique. The case-study technique in¬ 
volves the accumulation of all the significant data that may be 
found relating to a particular individual. This technique is 
especially valuable in indicating the relationship of various fac¬ 
tors in the life of the individual — relationships that might not 
become apparent in the more sketchy investigations that one 
makes by introspection or by the observation of large numbers 
of persons. 

The beginner in the study of psychology should be very 


28 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


careful not to confuse the case-study method with the mere ac¬ 
cumulation of anecdotes. Both anecdotes and case histories are 
essentially stories relating to the life of the person involved. 
The difference between them lies in the care with which the 
case history is prepared to avoid coloring the details with false 
emphasis or omitting incidents which might be distasteful or 
seemingly irrelevant. The anecdote is designed to fascinate 
the hearer; the case history, to present an unbiased statement 
of facts. 

Even if the case history is carefully presented, it does not 
constitute the best kind of scientific evidence. It is merely the 
first stage of scientific procedure. It may be valuable in help¬ 
ing the investigator to formulate hypotheses for further study, 
but data taken from case histories should never be given as 
much scientific weight as data from experimentation. 

While these various techniques of psychology are valuable 
at various stages in the study of psychological materials, they 
are merely aids in the execution of the scientific procedures 
outlined. Experimentation — that is, observation under con¬ 
trolled conditions — is the only way to verify a hypothesis 
whether the material be psychological or physical in nature. 
The peculiar techniques of psychology should be regarded as 
instruments to aid in psychological experimentation. 


V. Various Fields of Psychology 

Psychology has various branches so that it properly includes 
the study of normal persons, abnormal persons, children, 
animals, and man in his various social situations. General psy¬ 
chology draws from, and in turn contributes to, all these fields. 

Materials Used in the Study of Psychology. In attempt¬ 
ing to discover the laws which govern human behavior, ap¬ 
proaches may be made from various angles. While some of 
these should be favored because they yield more direct results 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 29 

than others, nevertheless, indirect approaches have sometimes 
been found to be very fruitful in scientific research. The gen¬ 
eral psychology which the professional student will find valu¬ 
able draws from the investigations conducted in a number of 
fields. Throughout the text we shall not attempt to distinguish 
the source of the material, but it will help us to orient our¬ 
selves if we know some of the fields of science to which psy¬ 
chology is related. 

1. The study of normal human beings. This approach to 
the study of psychology seems to be the most direct. If psy¬ 
chology is the study of human behavior, the natural approach 
would seem to be through the study of normal human beings. 
However, this approach is not so simple as it appears to be. 
Great difficulty is presented by the fact that the normal in¬ 
dividual is so complex that it is hard to isolate specific char¬ 
acteristics for experimental study. For example, we may wish 
to study the learning process in the human being, but we soon 
find that this learning is modified by such things as interest in 
the work, previous training with similar material, sensory dif¬ 
ferences, motor agility, and a host of other factors. The only 
way to proceed is to keep these extraneous factors as constant 
as possible. In some of the other methods of attack the ex¬ 
traneous factors may be kept more constant than is possible in 
the study of the normal persons, and hence these other methods 
are sometimes more valuable. 

2. The study of abnormal individuals. The procedure in 
the scientific laboratory is to isolate one element and study it. 
In the abnormal person we find certain traits so isolated that 
the person constitutes a ready-made laboratory. Thus, if we 
find two persons, one with extremely keen and the other with 
extremely sluggish intellectual ability, an intensive study of the 
two, with a comparison of their behavior, will tell us things 
about intellectual ability that we could not learn by studying 
only persons with normal intellectual ability. The study of 


30 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


persons with hearing defects, visual defects, organic injuries to 
the brain, distorted emotions, and other sorts of abnormalities 
has thrown a tremendous amount of light upon psychology. 

3. The study of children. In children we may observe be¬ 
havior in the making and consequently in a relatively simple 
form. By studying a young child before a certain type of re¬ 
action has developed, we can follow the development of that 
reaction under the influence of external conditions, which we 
can in many instances control very accurately. The psychology 
of learning is based almost wholly on observations of the de¬ 
velopment of children. Experimental work with children is 
growing apace and is resulting not only in great benefits to 
the body of knowledge of psychology in general, but also in a 
marked improvement in our technique of child training. One 
whose task it is to influence adults may learn much by dealing 
with children and studying the methods whereby they may be 
influenced. The executive, the salesman, the physician, the 
lawyer, the clergyman, and even the policeman would do well 
to take a course of training in dealing with children before he 
attempts to manage adults. 

A good illustration of the practical value of studying children 
is the development of the junior police. As long as the police 
system offered a challenge to the youth to defy legal prohibi¬ 
tions, the police were at a disadvantage. When they learned 
enough of the psychology of boyhood to enlist boys in their 
cause through the organization of the junior police, they no 
longer had them as enemies, but as allies. Boys enlisted in 
this work get a thrill from obeying the law, whereas they were 
formerly thrilled by disobeying it. 

4. The study of animals. Psychology is able to gather much 
from the study of animals which throws light upon human con¬ 
duct. The behavioristic approach is, of course, the only one 
which is of value in this branch of psychology, for obviously 
we cannot ask animals to introspect. 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 


3i 


The first studies of animal psychology were filled with at¬ 
tempts to read into animal behavior what was thought to ex¬ 
ist in human behavior, but when the study of animals became 
objective, it provided many new methods of studying human 
beings. To be sure, the results of the study of animals cannot 
be carried directly over into human psychology, but by study¬ 
ing animals, we have developed techniques of observation 
which are very useful in human psychology and we have formu¬ 
lated many fruitful hypotheses which would have been much 
less apparent without these studies. 

5. The study of social groups. Man’s conduct is materially 
modified by the fact that he normally lives his life in associa¬ 
tion with others and not in isolation. Out of consideration for 
others or because of the restraints which society naturally 
places upon him, he cannot do all the things he might like to 
do. On the other hand, he develops many characteristics which 
would remain latent were it not for these social contacts. Psy¬ 
chology must therefore study man in his relations with others. 
Such studies embrace the study of races, religious groups, 
political organizations, gangs, family relationships, schools, 
playground activities, mobs, warfare, and other multitudinous 
groupings of activities and interests. 

Summary of the Branches of Psychology. The different 
branches into which the study of psychology is customarily 
divided are as follows: 

1. General psychology is the study of the behavior of the 
normal human adult. • 

2. Physiological psychology is the study of the physiological 
foundations of human behavior. 

3. Abnormal psychology is the study of unusual types of 
human behavior. 

4. Genetic psychology is the study of the evolution of types 
of behavior from their simple beginnings in the race and in¬ 
dividual. 


32 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


5. Child psychology is the study of the psychological de¬ 
velopment of the child from birth to maturity. 

6. Educational psychology is the study of the principles of 
learning and teaching. 

7. Psychology of advertising and selling is a study of the ap¬ 
plication of psychological knowledge to the processes of ex¬ 
change — that is, of buying and selling. 

8. Psychology of personnel administration is a study of the 
application of psychology to the problems of employer-employee 
relationship. 

9. Social psychology is that branch of general psychology 
which stresses the principles operative in the adjustment of the 
individual to the various social orders. 

10. Comparative or animal psychology is a study of the be¬ 
havior of animals, usually for the purpose of obtaining a better 
understanding of the behavior of human beings. 


VI. How to Get the Most from Psychology 

Two questions to keep before us are: How do men act? and 
Why do they act as they do? If we assume that there are 
adequate causes for all conduct, we may be able to discover 
some of them. One should approach the study of psychology 
with a real interest in people and a determination to learn 
what explanations science can give for human conduct. 

How Do Men Act? Some persons approach the study of 
psychology motivated by an interest primarily in themselves. 
If they can see themselves reflected in every page of the text, 
they are sure that what has been written is true; if the text de¬ 
scribes ways that are different from their own, they are in¬ 
clined to doubt it. Such an attitude obviously limits their 
perspective. They lose sight of the all-important fact that, 
since individuals differ, the understanding of others rests upon 
a constant recognition of these differences. The approach to 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 33 

psychology should be an impersonal attempt to study life as it 
is and not as we think it is or wish it to be. 

Why Do Men Act as They Do? Man’s behavior at every 
instant is the unified and harmonious reaction to all the factors 
which influence him. A broad survey of the types of factors 
which influence behavior will help us to keep this fact of uni¬ 
fication and integration before us as we proceed. 

1. Man’s surroundings influence his behavior. We have a 
kind of receiving apparatus designed to make us aware of some 
of the things which are going on about us. Because this re¬ 
ceiving mechanism is so organized that we cannot be aware of 
everything, we can respond only to what psychologists call 
adequate stimuli. These stimuli vary from very simple to very 
complex forms, have different effects at different times, and 
are acting in continually changing combinations. Behavior 
cannot be understood unless we make a complete study of these 
various factors and their influence. We should recognize as 
we make a study of a particular situation that it is only theo¬ 
retically isolated for study and that it never really occurs in 
isolation. For example, we might make a theoretical study of 
the effect of a certain sound on a person, but such a study must 
also consider what the person is seeing, tasting, smelling, and 
otherwise sensing at the time, how many times and under what 
circumstances he has heard a similar sound, and what his pre¬ 
vious reactions to this sound were. 

That these external situations comprise a large part of what 
a man actually becomes, there can be no question. Man is 
literally the result of the food he consumes, the family in which 
he is reared, the comrades he meets and plays with, the bumps 
and bruises he gets, the landscapes he views, the conversations 
he hears, the books he reads, the furniture he uses, the clothes 
he wears, and the successes and disappointments he experiences. 

2. Man’s equipment. That man’s adaptation to his sur¬ 
roundings is determined by his innate equipment, there can be 


34 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


little doubt. Man’s finest equipment is his nervous system. 
The function of the nervous system is to receive all the im¬ 
pressions which impinge upon the sense organs and coordinate 
and unify them so that man can make adequate reactions to 
them. Some few nervous connections are definitely established 
at birth so that in these instances man has no choice of re¬ 
sponse. For example, if you permit a bright light to strike an 
infant’s eye, his pupil will contract. In the case of the many 
other situations which bring varied responses in different in¬ 
dividuals, the nature of these responses is dependent upon the 
coordinating function of the particular individual’s nervous 
mechanism. 

Other equipment besides the nervous system likewise de¬ 
termines behavior. Because he has four fingers and a thumb 
on each hand, man acts differently from the way he would if 
he had ten fingers and two thumbs on each hand. Since his 
arm is hung on a ball-and-socket joint, he can do things that he 
could not do if it were a flat-hinge joint. The movements of 
his vocal apparatus are limited so that he cannot make sounds 
outside a certain range. There are limitations to the contrac¬ 
tion of every muscle and to the strains which any of the bones 
or tendons can sustain. All these things go to make up man, 
although we are so prone to take them for granted that we 
sometimes fail to see their significance. 

The importance of motor equipment in the mental develop¬ 
ment of the individual becomes apparent at once if there is a de¬ 
fect in some part of the motor mechanism. If a child has only 
one arm, this handicap may induce him to make extra efforts to 
develop other parts of his body in order to compensate for the 
lack. On the other hand, he may develop queer attitudes to¬ 
ward society because he is different, may hate others, be jealous 
of others, may pity himself so that he will not mingle with 
others, or he may develop even more complex mental character¬ 
istics as a result of a simple physical deficiency. Hence, in 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 35 

order to understand people, we must take into consideration 
the nature of their equipment and how they have been in¬ 
fluenced by it. 

Attitudes toward the Study of Psychology. What one 
gains from the study of a subject is largely determined by the 
attitude with which he approaches it. This book is written 
primarily for professional students, and it is assumed that these 
students have an interest in the application of psychology to 
their professional problems. Because a thorough understand¬ 
ing of subject matter is essential before it may be applied, a 
student with a practical interest cannot be content with a super¬ 
ficial study. The professional student should study the subject 
as thoroughly as the student who seemingly has but a theoreti¬ 
cal interest, but with this difference: he should continually keep 
before himself the question, “ How may this material be uti¬ 
lized? ” Besides this practical interest, the following attitudes 
will be found helpful if one is to get the most from a study of 
psychology. 

1. One should have an interest in human beings other than 
himself. Get the habit of looking about you at persons, not as 
so many objects with which you must deal, but as interesting 
individuals to be studied. Why do they do the things they do? 
What will they do next? How they bustle about doing bizarre 
and senseless things which seem to be such serious matters to 
them! How different they are when you get acquainted with 
them! This man appeared to be a mean, ill-natured old wretch, 
but upon acquaintance he proves to be a warm-hearted, in¬ 
teresting person. 

2. Do not expect to solve all human problems. Do not get « 
the notion that a simple course in general psychology will en¬ 
able you to answer all questions about human nature. It is 
the fact that these questions cannot be easily answered that 
adds zest to the study. What you should get is a technique 
which will enable you to attack the problems as they arise. 


36 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


With the partial solutions which may result from your study, 
you should be stimulated to still further interest in an under¬ 
standing of human relations. 

3. Avoid the tendency to oversimplify. One great fault 
which it is necessary to fight is the tendency to develop a few 
simple explanations with the expectation of applying them to 
every situation. Often these explanations are expressed by 
some simple term and then the term applied indiscriminately. 
Psychology in the past has been full of errors of this type. One 
man explains everything by reference to some instinct; another 
blames everything on the subconscious; another on the in¬ 
ternal glands of the body; another on defective teeth; another 
on poor digestion; another on the sex urge; another on fear; 
and another on too much love for one’s mother. If there is 
any subject in which one should avoid riding a hobby, it is 
psychology. 

4. Avoid mysterious explanations. Human life has always 
been surrounded with more or less mystery because for so long 
it defied rational explanation. To permit superstition to creep 
into our psychology only blinds us to the real problems involved. 
We shall get nowhere in our explanation of human conduct if 
we cling to such intangible things as animal magnetism, mental 
telepathy, and the influence of evil spirits. To be sure, no stu¬ 
dent will think he is permitting himself to harbor superstitious 
explanations, but too often we discard some major superstition 
only to find it is still coloring our views in a different guise. It 
is well to use the dictum of scientific frugality and refuse to 
accept a mysterious explanation where it is possible to derive 
a simpler and more understandable one. 


Selected References 

Angell, J. R., Psychology, Fourth Edition Revised, Chapter I. 
Holt, 1908. 


NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGY 37 

Carr, Harvey, Psychology, Chapter I. Longmans, 1926. 

Dashiell, J. F., Fundamentals of Objective Psychology, Chapter I. 
Houghton Mifflin, 1928. 

Dockeray, F. C., General Psychology, Chapters I—II. Prentice 
Hall, 1932. 

Pillsbury, W. B., Fundamentals of Psychology, Third Edition, 
Chapter I. Macmillan, 1934. 

Woodworth, R. S., Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter I. Holt, 
1934 . 


CHAPTER II 


THE HUMAN ORGANISM 

VII. Typical Structure and Behavior of Some 
Simple Organisms 

Man is the most complex animal, both in structure and be¬ 
havior. In order to understand such a complex animal we 
may benefit by studying some of the simpler animals first. 
There are one-celled animals like the amoeba and there are 
simpler multicellular animals like the earthworm. Man be¬ 
longs to a relatively small class of animals called the verte¬ 
brates. While it is a small class, it is important because of 
the relatively high intelligence of these animals. 

Animals differ greatly in structure and in behavior. One of 
the simplest forms of life with which we are acquainted is called 
bacterium. In some respects bacteria are like plants and in 
other respects they are more like animals. Out of something 
similar to this simple beginning both types of life probably 
developed. 

Since we are here more interested in animals, a few samples 
of different kinds of animals will be briefly described. The 
simplest kind of animal is composed of a single cell. One of 
the most common forms of single-celled animals is called an 
amoeba. There are several varieties of the amoeba, but they 
are all somewhat similar. They are practically all too small 
to be seen by the naked eye. Even these single-celled ani¬ 
mals are very complex so far as their chemical structure is 
concerned. They contain several different chemical elements, 
and these are arranged in complex form. A molecule of ordi¬ 
nary non-living substance seldom contains more than one hun- 

38 


THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


39 


dred atoms, and often much less than this. The molecules of 
protoplasm of which amoeba and other living forms are com¬ 
posed often contain as many as one thousand atoms. 

The body of the amoeba is composed of two parts, an inner 
darker mass called the nucleus and an outer lighter mass called 
the cytoplasm. In many respects these parts resemble the typi¬ 
cal cell of which the human body is composed. The amoeba 
has no specialized parts such as hands or feet. Neither has it 
a mouth or digestive system. It moves by extending part of 
itself in the direction of movement and then drawing the rest of 
the body into this extended part. This is repeated over and 
over again in order to move from one place to another. The 
amoeba wraps itself about food. No special part of the body 
is used; any part serves as well as any other. When the par¬ 
ticle of food is surrounded, digestive juices are secreted which 
change parts of this food into substances which become part of 
the amoeba. The residue of the food is then discarded. 

In addition to food responses the amoeba withdraws from cer¬ 
tain chemicals and from strong lights and electric currents. It 
responds positively to gravity. It withdraws from too much 
warmth or cold and certain other kinds of stimuli. 

Whether the amoeba can learn depends largely upon our defi¬ 
nition of learning. Professor Jennings tells of an amoeba that 
swallowed a small living part of another amoeba. The small 
part escaped. Pursuit, capture, and escape followed in succes¬ 
sion. This, Jennings thinks, shows considerable adaptability. 
However, the amoeba does not learn how to select food or get 
about in any better way. So far as we know, when judged by 
human standards the amoeba does not learn. 

Another animal usually mentioned next in the evolutionary 
scale is the paramecium. The paramecium is also a one-celled 
animal. It differs from the amoeba in structure chiefly in the 
fact that it has a definite form. It is cigar-shaped with a spiral 
groove running lengthwise around the body. It has a tough 


40 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


outer membrane and is covered with short hairlike projections 
called cilia. The beating of these cilia propels the paramecium 
through the water as its means of locomotion. Although there 
is no regular digestive system, there is a more or less clearly 
defined pathway in the body through which food passes as it 
is being digested. 

The behavior of the paramecium is more specific yet less 
predictable than that of the amoeba. It is much better pro¬ 
vided with ways and means of securing food and escaping from 
danger. There is some evidence that a paramecium can learn, 
but this learning is of a very simple form. No one could ever 
get very far in teaching tricks to a paramecium. 

The earthworm is a more complex animal. It has a brain 
(cephalic ganglion), a well-defined digestive tract, a blood sys¬ 
tem, seta for crawling, and a two-organ sexual system. Its 
behavior compares favorably with its greater complexity of 
structure. It searches for and selects food. At seasons it 
consorts with others of its kind. The earthworm while not a 
facile learner can be taught to take a certain pathway to food. 
It can learn in the commonly accepted sense of the term. 

Insects belong to the class of animals called arthropods 
(hinged foot). Bees, ants, crayfish, and spiders are all arthro¬ 
pods. All these animals have a keen sense of smell, good vision, 
and good means of locomotion. They generally have effective 
means of escape or protection. Their method of care of their 
young, or preparation for their care, separates this group from 
the lower groups and indicates a distinct advance. Learning is 
very evident. The trained fleas that were at the Century of 
Progress are only one illustration of this fact. 

Every reader is well enough acquainted with the next class 
of animals — the vertebrates — to make further description un¬ 
necessary. The class contains fish, frogs, reptiles, birds, and 
the mammals, such as the monkey, the gorilla, and man. The 
complexity of structure of these animals is paralleled by a 


THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


4i 


similar complexity of behavior. The variety and rapidity of 
learning set this class off from the invertebrates, as man, the 
last and most complex, is set off from the others in this class. 
Since this text is primarily concerned with the behavior of man, 
the remainder of this chapter will deal with a brief description 
of some of his structures which form the basis for his be¬ 
havior. 

VIII. General Human Structure and Function 

In this section we shall discuss the general nature of man’s 
interaction with his environment. He is affected by his en¬ 
vironment through the food he eats and the play of external 
forces on his sense organs. He reacts upon his environment 
by the activity of his muscles and the secretions of various 
glands. 

Whatever else man may be, he is a very efficient machine. 
It is the function of a machine to receive energy in one form 
and to transform and deliver that energy in some different 
form. Man receives energy from his environment in two ways: 
first, in the form of food, and second, in the form of external 
forces impinging upon his sense organs. External forces may 
be of several kinds, as for example, mechanical forces such as 
wind, air pressure, and blows from hard objects which drive man 
into certain postures; or physical forces such as sound and light 
waves; or chemical forces such as odors and tastes. The food 
is transformed chemically into different forms of energy and 
is released upon man’s environment as heat and movement. 
The forces playing upon his sense organs are changed into 
nerve currents which are conducted to various portions of the 
body and are released in the form of words, acts, bodily pos¬ 
tures, and glandular secretions. Let us consider both these 
forms of energy in some detail. 

The Energy Received from Foods. One of the most ap¬ 
parent sources of human energy is food. Food is taken into 


42 k 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


the body in the form of (i) proteins, such as meats, (2) car¬ 
bohydrates, such as sugar, (3) fats, (4) water, (5) vitamins, 
(6) air, and (7) possibly sunshine. The first five of these 
are taken into the digestive system through the mouth. The 
various parts of the digestive system have different functions 
in changing the form or structure of the food. For example, 
the physical form of the food, if it be a solid, is changed by 
chewing. The saliva, gastric juice, pancreatic juice, bile, and 
other fluids aid in breaking down the chemical structure of the 
food so that it will be more usable. The proteins are changed 
to a soluble form, called amino acids; the fats are saponified; 
and the starches are changed into sugars. In these forms, they 
may all pass through the walls of the intestines into the blood 
stream. The amino acids are carried directly to the cells of the 
body without change. The sugars are carried to the liver and 
temporarily stored there or are directly released into the blood 
stream in the form of glycogen. The fats, after being saponified 
as they pass through the walls of the intestines, are again 
changed into fats and stored in different parts of the body, es¬ 
pecially around the heart and kidneys and over the abdomen. 
Thus we see that some food is continually being carried to the 
cells of the body to be used or stored there. Some food is 
stored in the liver and given out in a constant stream into the 
blood to be carried to the various cells of the body, and some 
is stored in more or less free form in different parts of the 
body. 

Air is taken into the body through the nose and mouth from 
whence it is carried to the lungs. There the oxygen passes 
through the thin walls of the air sacs and is transported to the 
cells of the body by the blood. In the cells, it is ready for use 
in oxidizing the food stored there. But the union of the oxygen 
and stored food does not take place without the action of a 
nervous current. The stored food and oxygen are like the air 
and gasoline in the cylinder of an automobile engine. There 


THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


43 


must be a spark to set them off. The nervous current is this 
spark. 

Energy Received through the Sense Organs. The second 
form of energy which affects the human organism consists in 
different kinds of stimulation which strike upon the sense or¬ 
gans. These stimuli may be classified as mechanical, such as 
contacts; chemical, such as foods; and vibration, such as light 
waves. These forms of energy, along with many others, are 
always present in the environment in which man lives. But it 
is only when they strike upon a receptor, or sense organ, that 
they have any influence upon the organism. The sense organs 
are mechanisms designed to receive external stimuli and to 
transform them into nerve currents. Each particular sense 
organ is adapted to receive only a specific type of stimulus 
and that only within a certain range. Stimuli within the 
range of any sense organ are called adequate stimuli; those 
of the wrong type or without its range are called inadequate 
stimuli. The sense organs do not respond to inadequate 
stimuli. 

There are many forms of energy for which we have no re¬ 
ceptors, as may be seen from a study of Table I. We have no 
sense organs for the adequate reception of electric waves, radio 
waves, Hertzian waves, solar radiation, ultra-violet rays, 
X-rays, gamma rays, or cosmic waves. We know of these 
waves only by indirect means; we cannot perceive them di¬ 
rectly with any sense organs in our bodies. 

We can perceive physical pressure, within a certain range of 
intensities, when it is presented to the skin. Physical vibra¬ 
tions from about sixteen a second to about thirty thousand a 
second are adequate stimuli for our ears and are sensed as 
sounds. We react to infra-red rays with a vague sense of 
warmth. Visible rays from 380 trillion to 770 trillion waves 
per second are adequate stimuli for our eyes and are sensed as 
light and color. 


44 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Table I. Types of Vibrations and Their Wave Lengths 

(From Clark, Applied X-Rays, by courtesy of McGraw-Hill 
Book Company.) 


Type of Wave Range of Vibration Rate 

per Second 

Electric wave .85 

to 10,000 

Radio wave.10,000 

to 30,000,000 

Hertzian wave.30,000,000 

to 3,000,000,000,000 

Solar radiation.56,000,000,000,000 

to 1,000,000,000,000,000 

Infra-red rays.... .700,000,000,000 

to 380,000,000,000,000 

Visible rays ..380,000,000,000,000 

to 770,000,000,000,000 

Ultra-violet rays.770,000,000,000,000 

to 22,000,000,000,000,000 

X-rays.2,900,000,000,000,000 

to 50,000,000,000,000,000,000 

Gamma rays.2,100,000,000,000,000,000 

to 310,000,000,000,000,000,000 
Cosmic (Millikan) .4,500,000,000,000,000,000,000 


to 7,500,000,000,000,000,000,000 


Although man’s sense organs are very limited in the range of 
adequate stimuli that they can receive, man has overcome this 
handicap by devising instruments to transform inadequate 
stimuli into adequate stimuli. By means of photography we 
may make use of X-rays. The radio utilizes radio waves for 
the transmission of sound. After transmission, these waves 
are changed back into oscillations within our audible range. 
Ultra-violet rays do not affect the sense organs of our skin or 













THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


45 


our eyes directly, but ultra-violet rays from the sun or from 
specially designed lamps produce sunburn. They are used to 
treat skin and bone diseases and to kill bacteria. 

When viewed from another angle, the limitation of our sen¬ 
sory range is an advantage rather than a handicap. The pur¬ 
pose of receiving impressions through our sense organs is to 
enable us to respond to our environment. If we were bom¬ 
barded indiscriminately with all the forces of energy about us, 
life would be extremely confusing and we should have a very 
difficult time learning to respond at all. It is advantageous to 
be able to tune out all stations with our radio receiver except 
the one we wish to hear or to tune out all of them if we are 
annoyed. What if we had to listen to all of them all the time! 
The selective function of our sense organs is a very important 
one. Although we exercise selection, we want to be able to 
sense all that other persons do or we shall be at a disadvantage. 
We do not want to be aware of everything in the universe, but 
we want to perceive as much as our neighbors. On this account 
we strive to devise apparatus to correct any gross defects we 
may have in our sense organs. 

Man’s sense organs are not ordinarily affected by all the 
adequate stimuli in his environment. Because the range of his 
attention is limited, man cannot attend to all stimuli. He must 
continually select from those which are presented to him. As 
he has progressed in civilization, he has developed the capacity 
to select the types of stimulation to which he wishes to attend. 
He also has devised methods whereby he can utilize other forms 
of energy, such as radio waves, whenever he wishes to do so. 
Thus his intake from the environment is determined by the 
needs of the moment as well as by his sensory limitations. 

Mechanisms of Bodily Activity. Some activity goes on in 
all cells of the body. There is a constant using up of food 
through the processes of nutrition, regeneration, repair, growth, 
and the maintenance of warmth. There are also specialized 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


46 

mechanisms in the body for producing reactions in and on the 
environment — specifically, the muscles and glands. 

1. The striped muscles. There are two types of muscles in 
the body, the striped and the unstriped. The striped muscle is 
composed of long, slender fibers arranged both in series and in 
parallel. That is, the separate fibers connect with one another 
longitudinally in series and these strands are arranged in col¬ 
umns, side by side, to compose the bulk of the muscle. The 
striping of the muscle is shown in Figure 1. Nerves lead to 
each fiber of the muscle. When a 
nervous current enters a muscle 
fiber, it causes some of the oxygen 
and food elements stored in the 
fiber to unite. This union sets up pro. Showing Sections 
an activity in the fiber which of Three Striated Mus- 
causes it to contract. The con- cle Fibers, Including the 
traction shortens the longitudinal Motor Nerve Supply. 
dimension of the fiber and in- (Highly Magnified.) 
creases its diameter. The contraction of any single fiber would 
produce no significant effect, but generally nervous currents 
enter many or all the fibers of a muscle simultaneously. These 
cause a shortening of the muscle. These contractions may re¬ 
sult in a momentary twitch or a prolonged thickening of the 
muscle. This depends on whether there are a few volleys of 
nervous impulses or continuing series of impulses. 

The simple contraction of a striped muscle in response to a 
single stimulus is illustrated in Figure 2. While the length of 
time required to react may vary with different muscles, the 
general nature of the contraction is the same. There is a latent 
period between the stimulus and the beginning of the contrac¬ 
tion. In the illustration, the latent period occupied about 
0.01 sec.; the contraction, represented by the rising line, 
about 0.05 sec.; the relaxation, represented by the falling line, 
about 0.05 sec. 

In ordinary life most contractions of striped muscle depend 









THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


47 


upon a rapid succession of impulses which combine to produce 
an apparently longer and slower contraction than that shown 
in the illustration. It takes a large number of successive 
impulses to effect such a simple movement as raising the arm. 
Furthermore, most movements of the body are the result of 
the contraction of a whole group of muscles either simultane¬ 
ously or in succession or both. 

Muscles are usually attached at one end to a stationary bone 
or cartilage and at the other to a movable bone or cartilage. 



Fig. 2. Graphic Record of a Simple Striped-Muscle 
Contraction 


S indicates the point at which the stimulus was applied. When 
the muscle contracts, the curve rises; as it relaxes, the curve falls. 

T is the time line, each wave representing one-hundredth of a 
second. (Adapted from Gates, Elementary Psychology, copyright, 
1925, by The Macmillan Company. Reprinted by permission.) 

The shortening of the muscle causes a movement of the free 
part. In some cases, however, muscles of the body are ar¬ 
ranged in bands and are not connected at both ends with bone 
or cartilage. The muscles of the tongue and face are examples 
of this type. In either case movement of some part of the body 
is produced by the contraction of a muscle or muscles. This 
movement is essentially the same in character whether it con¬ 
sists in movements of the legs, as in walking; of the tongue, as 
in talking; or of the face, as in laughing. 

2. The unstriped muscles. The unstriped muscles are gen¬ 
erally flat and sheetlike or tubular. (See Figure 3.) The cells 
are flatter and shorter than those in the striped muscles. The 




48. 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 



Fig. 


3. An Unstriped 
Muscle 


cells also merge into one another, producing a somewhat 
amorphous structure. The diaphragm and the walls of the in¬ 
testines are composed of unstriped muscles. 

The most distinctive difference between the functioning of 
the smooth muscles and that of the striped muscles is the rela¬ 
tive sluggishness of the smooth muscles. The latent period 
may be from fifty to five hundred times as long as that of the 
striped muscle. This relatively sluggish activity is indicated in 
Figure 4. Here the latent period is about sixty times as long 
as in the contraction of the skeletal muscle illustrated in 
Figure 2. Moreover, the period 
of contraction of the smooth 
muscle in Figure 4 is about 
sixty times as long as that of the 
skeletal muscle in Figure 2. The 
slowness of relaxation is still 
more striking. Whereas the 
striped muscle relaxes about as 
quickly as it contracts, the 
smooth muscle relaxes very 
slowly, consuming four or five times as long a period as is re¬ 
quired for contraction. 

This difference is very important when we consider how 
each type of muscle enables us to adjust ourselves to our en¬ 
vironment. The skeletal muscles respond quickly and enable 
us to make rapid and violent adjustments to our surroundings. 
The smooth muscles, on the other hand, are primarily involved 
with nutritive adjustments. They are also a part of the type 
of reactions which we shall consider as emotional reactions. 
This fundamental characteristic of smooth-muscle contraction 
explains why emotions develop slowly and persist much longer 
than a simple skeletal reaction. The slowness of recovery from 
an emotional reaction is accentuated by glandular factors, as 
we shall soon see, but the fundamental cause seems to lie in 


(a) Isolated fibers, ( b) 
Muscle tissue showing many 
fibers joined together. 





THE HUMAN ORGANISM 49 

this inherent difference in the speed of reaction between 
skeletal and smooth muscles. 

3. Cardiac muscle. A third type of muscle is sometimes 
mentioned — namely, cardiac muscle. The muscle of the heart 
is banded muscle, but the bands are not like those of striped 
muscle. The separate fibers are fused together at various 
points, producing a network of fibers. However, cardiac mus¬ 
cle functions more like unstriped than striped muscle. 

4. Glands. A gland is essentially a mechanism for taking 
certain substances from the blood, reorganizing them, and de- 


5 

1 

T 

Fig. 4. Graphic Record of a Simple Smooth-Muscle 
Contraction 

S indicates the point at which the stimulus was applied. As the 
muscle contracts, the curve rises; as it relaxes, the curve falls. The 
bottom line T is the time line, each wave representing one-hundredth 
of a second. (From Howell, Physiology, W. B. Saunders Company.) 

livering them again to the blood stream, to some other part 
of the body, or outside the body. All glands may be divided 
into two general classes. The first (see Figure 5) are the duct 
glands, so named because their secretions pass from the gland 
through a duct or opening. The second (see Figure 6) are 
ductless, or endocrine, glands, so named because their secre¬ 
tions pass directly into the blood stream. 

The primary function of duct glands is to assist in the smooth 
functioning of our vegetative organs, but at the same time they 
are intimately related to our mental life, as is illustrated in the 
changes produced in these glands by what are usually called 
emotional stimuli. For example, the tear, or lachrymal, glands 





5 o ~ GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

serve to keep the eyes sufficiently moist, but they also take 
a prominent part in our response of crying. The salivary 
glands and gastric glands furnish assistance in the digestive 
processes, but their activity diminishes when we are afraid or 
angry. 



Fig. 5. A Simple Gland with Connective Tissue and 
Blood Vessels 


(From Hough and Sedgwick, The Human Mechanism, Ginn 
and Company.) 


Ductless glands are more subtle in their influence. Until re¬ 
cently the nature of their activity was little understood, but we 
now know that they have a marked influence upon our general 
mental and emotional life as well as upon our physical develop¬ 
ment. Atrophy of the thyroid gland, for example, is accom¬ 
panied by mental deficiency as well as gross physical ab¬ 
normalities. Excessive functioning of this gland produces, or 





THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


Si 

is accompanied by, rapid heart activity, overactivity of various 
sorts, and often by emotional instability. 

The adrenal glands are closely associated with emotional 
reactions. When one is aroused by an emotional situation 
this gland is stimulated and, as a result of its secretions, the 

activity of the body is in¬ 
creased, the heart beats more 
rapidly, stored foods are made 
more available, and breathing 
is accelerated. The secretion 
of adrenalin also acts as a 
means of prolonging the du¬ 
ration of the emotional reac¬ 
tion. If adrenalin is injected 
directly into the blood stream 
of an animal in repose, the 
animal will show signs of ex¬ 
citement such as usually result 
from an emotional situation. 

The pituitary body is an¬ 
other ductless gland which af¬ 
fects mental life. While its 
effect is most marked in the 
bodily structure, its over- or 
underdevelopment is also as¬ 
sociated with intellectual de¬ 
ficiency. 



Fig. 6. Cross Section of a 
Ductless Gland 

The cells secrete into the 
closed sacs which they surround. 
The secretion then passes out be¬ 
tween the cells into the lymph 
spaces - of the connective tissue. 
(From Hough and Sedgwick, 
The Human Mechanism, Ginn 
and Company.) 


Other glands in the endocrine, or ductless, system which 
have a more or less direct relationship to mental life are the 
parathyroids, the thymus, the pineal body, the pancreas, the 
liver, and the sex glands. 

The activity of the glandular system in relation to mental 
life should not be ignored even though it is often of a vague 
and non-specialized nature. A child may be blamed for lack- 




52 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


ing ambition or for being slow and lazy, when he may need 
some thyroid extract. Another may be punished for incessant 
activity or be ridiculed for his excessive sentimentality, when 
the cause of his behavior is the overactivity of his thyroid. 
The importance of glands should not be overstressed but, on the 
other hand, it should not be ignored. 

The character and the extent of activity of both muscles and 
glands depend upon (i) the food supply of the organ, (2) its 
physiological condition at the time, which makes it either sus¬ 
ceptible or relatively unsusceptible to stimulation, and (3) the 
nervous impulse. The determination of whether there will be 
activity or inactivity, as well as the determination of the form 
of any activity that takes place, depends upon the existence 
and balance of these three factors. 

Our discussion thus far has dealt more with the problems of 
physiology than with those of psychology. This has been 
necessary because we cannot get an adequate conception of the 
working of the human organism without understanding the 
source of the great energy it expends. It is from the food we 
eat that this energy comes. Too often the psychologist has 
been interested only in the part of the process which we are 
now ready to describe — namely, the stimulation of the sense 
organs and conduction of nervous energy to different parts of 
the body. 


IX. The Central Nervous System 

In this section we shall describe enough of the structure of 
the nervous system to enable us to understand its functioning. 
The unit of nervous structure is the neurone. Neurones are 
combined so as to form a network of connections to all parts 
of the body with their centers in or near the brain and spinal 
cord. 

The nervous system, the function of which is to conduct 
nerve currents to different parts of the body, is very complex 


THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


and intricate. Like other parts of the body, it is made up of 
cells. These cells, microscopic in diameter, may be of various 
lengths, from a few thousandths of an inch up to three or four 
feet. These nerves connect with one another to form a whole 
system of interconnections. They may be arranged in thin 
strands, as are those that run from the sense organs to the 




Fig. 7. Some Common Types of Neurones 
(a) Motor neurone, ( b ) Sensory neurone, ( c ) Association neurone. 

muscles, or they may be in large groups, as they are in the 
brain and spinal cord. 

The Neurone. A single nerve cell is called a neurone. Al¬ 
though neurones differ 'greatly^uT general form, they all con¬ 
sist of three parts: (1) a cell bod y, (2) a dendrite, and (3) an 
These parts are illustrated in Figure 7. In these draw¬ 
ings of typical neurones (1) is the cell body, (2) is the den¬ 
drite, of which there may be several for each neurone, and (3) 










54 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


is the axone. The fine, arborized ends of the dendrites and 
axones are called end-brushes. 

The cell body forms the bulk of the neurone. It contains 
the nucleus and the food supply for the neurone. If any part 
of the neurone is severed, the part distal to the cell body will 
die. The cell bodies of all nerves lie in or near the spinal cord 
and brain. 1 There are no cell bodies along the nerve path¬ 
ways in the body. All the neurones which extend to distant 
parts of the body have their cell bodies in groups, called 
ganglia, within or near the spinal column or in centers within 
the brain. 

The branch of the neurone which carries the nerve current 
toward the cell body is called the dendrite. 2 The branch which 
carries it from the cell body toward the next neurone is called 
an axone. Ordinarily a neurone has more than one dendrite, 
but only one axone, although there are exceptions to both of 
these statements. The dendrites are generally shorter than 
the axones, but in the case of the dendrites which run from the 
sense organs to the cord the dendrite is much longer than 
the axone. There is one other difference between dendrites and 
axones. The axones are covered with a whitish insulating ma¬ 
terial called the myeline sheath. The cell body and dendrite 
are grayish in color and are not myelinated. 

The point where one neurone connects with another is called 
a synapse. Unlike electric wire connections, neurones meet 

1 This categorical statement is made for the sake of simplicity and 
brevity. The authors are aware that there are cell bodies in the retina 
and that the autonomic nervous system has cell bodies in its ganglia. 
But genetically, the retina is a part of the brain and here we are con¬ 
cerned only with the central nervous system. 

2 This is a functional definition of a dendrite. There is some question 
whether the part of the sensory neurones which lead from the cutaneous 
sense organs to the bipolar cell bodies of the spinal ganglia should be 
called dendrites or axones. Structurally, they are like axones, but they 
carry nervous currents toward their cell bodies. Therefore, they violate 
either definition and it makes little difference which we call them. 




THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


55 



Fig. 8. Diagrammatic Sketch of the Human Nervous System 

only at their ends, or terminals. One neurone never connects 
along the side of another neurone unless there is a branch there 
to which it connects. All synapses of the central nervous sys- 



GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


56 

tern, except those in the retina of the eye, are in the spinal cord 
or brain. A nervous current, when it is generated in a re¬ 
ceptor, must go to the spinal cord or brain before it can be 
transferred to a motor nerve and carried to a muscle or gland. 

Gross Structure of the Nervous System. The nervous 
system consists of two large systems of pathways and two cen¬ 
tral, or coordinating, centers. The coordinating centers lie in 
the brain and spinal cord. Into these centers pathways ex¬ 
tend from the receptors of the 


Cell bodies of 
sensor/ nerves 


Sensory branches 
nto the cord 



Vertebra 


Motor branches 
out from the cord 


Fig. 9. Cross Section of a 
Vertebra Showing the Rela¬ 
tive Position of the Cord 


body. These are definite path¬ 
ways in toward the spinal cord 
and brain. Nervous currents 
passing over these pathways 
travel only in one direction. 

There can be no switching until 
a synapse is reached. There 
is another set of pathways 
that lead from the brain and 
cord to the muscles and glands 
of the body. 

The Spinal Cord. The bulk of the spinal cord consists of 
pathways leading upward from the sense organs and downward 
to the muscles. The large groups of fibers in the legs, which 
collect into larger and larger groups and finally into one large 
trunk, enter the middle of the spinal column at its lower ex¬ 
tremity. This is the beginning of the spinal cord. Nerves 
from higher up — that is, from the thighs, small of the back, 
and arms — enter this trunk between the vertebrae. The cord, 
therefore, gradually gets larger toward the upper end of the 
spinal column. (See Figure 8.) It grows from a thin strand 
not much more than an eighth of an inch in diameter at its 
lower end to nearly a half inch in diameter at the base of the 
brain. Thirty-one pairs of nerves, called spinal nerves, have 
entered it during this course. Figure 9 shows the position of 



THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


57 


the cord in relation to the vertebrae and Figure io shows a 
cross section of the cord, indicating its principal sensory and 
motor pathways. 

In addition to the pathways toward the brain, which are 
called sensory pathways , the cord contains approximately the 
same number, known as motor pathways, which lead down to¬ 
ward the muscles. Branches of the motor nerves extend out¬ 
ward between the vertebrae. Very shortly after leaving the 
cord, they are bound in with the sensory fibers from the region 
to which the motor fibers are going. It is only when the motor 



Fig. io. Cross Section of the Cord (magnified) Showing 
Important Sensory and Motor Pathways 

fibers reach the neighborhood of the muscles which they sup¬ 
ply that they branch off from the sensory fibers. 

Besides being a series of pathways up to and down from the 
brain, the cord is a primary switching center. Fibers coming 
into the cord connect with fibers going out to the muscles of 
the trunk and limbs. These connections are accomplished by 
contact between the axones of the sensory neurones and the 
dendrites of the motor neurones or by short interposed associa¬ 
tion neurones. It is through such connections that we get the 
simplest and most rapid reactions of the body. We shall de¬ 
scribe this process more in detail after we have further de¬ 
scribed the structure of the nervous system. 










58 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 





Fig. ii. Schematic Representation of the Brain 
and Spinal Cord Showing the Main Branches of 
Sensory and Motor Fibers 






















59 



THE HUMAN ORGANISM 

The Brain. The brain consists of (i) continuing pathways 
up from the spinal cord, (2) nerve centers, which are the high¬ 
est centers for the various functions of control, (3) association 
pathways, which connect one set of centers with another, and 
(4) pathways down toward the muscles. 

We may liken the whole nervous system to an automatic 
telephone system. The fibers coming in from the sense organs 
are like the lines leading from the subscribers’ telephones. The 
spinal cord is the main cable to and from the central station. 
The brain is the central station in which there are lines lead¬ 
ing to and from the switchboard and from one plug in the 
board to another. The plugs in the switchboard correspond to 
the nerve centers. The connections between plugs are the asso¬ 
ciation fibers of the brain. 

This analogy may give a rather clear idea of the way in 
which the brain functions, but there are a few respects in which 
it may be misleading. In a telephone system a telephone may 
either call or be called. In fact, the conversation is generally 
back and forth. In the nervous system there is a separate sys¬ 
tem, one for carrying messages in to the central station and one 
for carrying messages out. Again, in the telephone system the 
central connections are made by changes in electrical resistance 
operating mechanical switches. In the nervous system there 
are actually either direct or indirect nervous connections be¬ 
tween each center and all the other centers of the brain. These 
connections are always there, ready to function. About four- 
fifths of the brain consists of these connecting pathways. 
These fibers run in every direction. We can by patient effort 
trace many of them in the brain; millions of others are too fine 
and intricate to trace. 

While discussing the brain, it should be pointed out that 
some sensory nerves enter the brain directly without coming 
through the spinal cord. There are also motor nerves, ar¬ 
ranged in pairs, that pass out from the brain to muscles and 



6o 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


glands within the head and neck. There are twelve pairs of 
these nerves, which are called cranial nerves. The sensory 
parts of these nerves come from sense organs in the eye, nose, 
tongue, and ear, as well as from the cutaneous areas of the 
head. The motor parts lead to muscles and glands of the face 
and throat, to muscles within the eye, and to the muscles that 
move the eyeballs. One of the cranial nerves — the tenth or 
vagus nerve — even extends to the heart and to parts of the 
viscera. 

Parts of the Brain. Before continuing with our descrip¬ 
tion of the functioning of the nervous system, we should briefly 
consider the gross structure of the brain. An outside view of 
the brain presents the appearance of a grayish, wrinkled, egg- 
shaped mass about eight inches in its longest diameter and six 
inches in its shortest diameter. The smaller end is toward the 
forehead. The main mass of the brain is divided into four 
parts: namely, (i) the medulla, (2) the cerebellum, (3) the 
mid-brain, and (4) the cerebrum. 

1. The medulla. The small part at the back which con¬ 
nects with the cord may really be considered as an enlarged 
extension of the cord. It is called the medulla. The medulla 
is composed mostly of pathways -up and down between 
the cord and the brain. In addition to these pathways 
there are some connective centers between sensory and 
motor pathways. Some of these centers are very important, 
having control of such vital functions as respiration and 
circulation. 

2. The cerebellum. Surrounding and slightly above the 
medulla is a larger, compact part of the brain called the cere¬ 
bellum. Fibers connect the cerebellum with the medulla below 
and with the other parts of the brain above. We are not cer¬ 
tain as to all the functions of the cerebellum, but we know that 
it has some very direct relation to the sense of balance and to 
body tonus. An animal with the cerebellum removed will not 


THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


61 


maintain an upright position. It may even lie on its back. 
There is also a continual quiver or jerking in the body muscles. 

3. The mid-brain. The part of the brain just above the 
medulla and cerebellum is the thalamus or mid-brain. Some 
authors name these as separate parts, but the line of division 


Fissure of Rolando 



Fig. 12. Diagram of the Brain Showing the Important 
Lobes and Tissues of the Cerebrum 

between them is not clear and, in general function and struc¬ 
ture, they are so similar that we can not easily distinguish be¬ 
tween them. The mid-brain is almost entirely covered on top 
with the other parts of the brain. This region, like the medulla, 
has two functions. It is the region through which all the 
pathways to and from the, higher brain centers must pass, and 
it is also a part in which there are many coordinations between 




62 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


pathways. It is probable that most of the more complex acts 
which are not conscious are controlled through the mid-brain. 

4. The cerebrum. The main part of the brain is called the 
cerebrum. It constitutes more than half of the brain and con¬ 
trols most of the higher processes of skill and thinking. (See 
Figures 12 and 13.) It is this part of the brain which was last 



Fig. 13. Diagram of the Brain Showing the Principal 
Sensory and Motor Centers of the Cerebrum 


to develop in the evolution of animals. Even in animals as 
high in the scale as fishes, the cerebrum is little developed. 
Only in the mammals, and especially in the primates, like the 
monkey and man, has it reached a high state of development. 
It is the last part of the brain to develop in the embryo and, 
in its development, it folds back over, and almost completely 
covers, the other parts of the brain. The cortex, or outside 
layer of the brain, is folded into many ridges called convolu- 


63 


THE HUMAN ORGANISM 

tions. The convolutions make possible a larger surface of cor¬ 
tex. At one time it was thought that the number of convolu¬ 
tions in the brain was an index of intelligence. This view has 
long since been disproved. There is, as yet, no way by which 
we can tell from an examination of the shape or structure of the 
brain anything about the intelligence of the individual, except 
in the case of very low-grade idiots. Sometimes the brains of 
such persons are very simple in general structure and contain 
relatively few nerve cells. 

Divisions of the Cerebrum. The cerebrum is divided by 
three very large and deep creases called fissures. One of these, 
called the central or me dian fissure. ; runs from the m iddle of the 
forehead straight backward, dividing the cerebrum into halves. 
Each of these halves is called a hemisphere. Often the cere¬ 
brum is spoken of as “ the hemispheres.” 

A second fissure, called the fissure of Rolando, starts about 
the middle of the median fissure and extends down toward 
either ear in each hemisphere. A third fissure, the Sylvian 
fissure, starts in the temple region and runs backward and 
slightly upward in each hemisphere. This separates the lower 
part of the hemispheres from the upper part. These fissures 
do not completely sever the parts one from another, but they 
do run deeply enough to be easily distinguished from the other 
more shallow fissures between the convolutions. 

Each hemisphere is ordinarily divided into four lobes for ease 
in locating any point or area in it. The Sylvian and Rolandic 
fissures help to mark off these lobes. The frontal lob e is in 
f ront of the fissure of Rolando; the t emporal lobe is below the 
Sylvian fissure; the parietal lo be is just back of the fissure of 
Rolando. There is no clear line of demarcation between the 
parietal lobe and the occipital lobe, which is at the back of the 
brain. Figure 12 shows these lobes. 

Very important functions are located in each of these lobes. 
All the sensory pathways end in centers in the parietal, oc- 












GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


64 

cipital, and temporal lobes. The center for vision is in the 
occipital lobe. Touch, warmth, cold, and pain are located in 
the parietal lobe; smell and taste, in a depressed area between 
the temporal and parietal lobes; and hearing, in the temporal 
lobe. (See Figure 13.) 

All nervous impulses from the brain to the muscles pass 
through the motor area which is in the frontal lobe just in front 
of the fissure of Rolando. If the brain is laid bare and this 
area is directly stimulated with weak electric shocks, move¬ 
ments of different parts of the body are produced. There is 
some evidence that the area in front of the motor area has 
some special relation to acts of skill and thinking. Yet the 
work of Lashley and others in removing parts of the brains of 
monkeys and other lower animals indicates that the whole 
brain seems to be concerned in skilled acts, rather than any 
particular part of it. 

X. The Autonomic Nervous System 

The autonomic nervous system has the special function of 
coordinating and controlling impulses to the smooth muscles 
and glands. Its centers are located outside the spinal column 
and its activities are closely linked with emotional behavior. 

The parts of the nervous system which we have been de¬ 
scribing are usually referred to as the central, or the cerebro¬ 
spinal, nervous system. In addition there is a semi-independent 
system called the autonomic nervous system. It consists of a 
series of ganglia or groups of cell bodies located along the spinal 
column but outside the vertebrae. In addition to these, there 
are ganglia in the pit of the stomach, in the heart, and in a few 
other places in the body. Sensory fibers lead into this system 
by branches from the central nervous system. There are prob¬ 
ably some sense organs in the viscera which are connected di¬ 
rectly with the autonomic system. Motor fibers lead from the 


THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


65 



Fig. 


Tear gland 
Dilator of pupil 

Artery of salivary gland 
Hair 

Surface artery 
Sweat gland 

Heart 
Hair 

Surface artery 
^—5 Sweat gland 

Liver 

Stomach 
Visceral artery 
Spleen 

Intestine 


Adrenal gland 
Hair 

Surface artery 
Sweat gland 


Colon 
Bladder 
Rectum 

Artery of external 
genitals 

14. Diagram of the Autonomic Nervous System 


The sympathetic division connects with all the organs; the cranial, 
with organs in the upper part of the body; the sacral, in the lower. 
(From Cannon, American Journal of Psychology, Vol. 25, p. 257.) 























66 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


autonomic system to the smooth muscles of the body and to 
the glands. The general arrangement of the autonomic nervous 
system and its connections with the various organs composed 
of smooth muscles are illustrated in Figure 14. 

The autonomic system is divided into three parts and named 
according to the part of the body in which its ganglia are 
located. These parts are: (1) the cranial, located in the head 
and neck, (2) the sympathetic, located in the chest and ab¬ 
domen, and (3) the sacral, located in the pelvic regions. 

This nervous system has control over the involuntary ac¬ 
tivities of the body, such as those of digestion and circulation. 
The autonomic system is also directly concerned with the feel¬ 
ings and emotions. Therefore, we shall defer a further discus¬ 
sion to Chapter X, except that we should mention here that the 
different parts of the system tend to work in opposition. The 
cranial and sacral divisions are paired against the sympathetic 
division. For example, the cranial division accelerates peri¬ 
stalsis in the stomach and intestines and retards the action of 
the heart. The sympathetic division retards peristalsis and ac¬ 
celerates the heart. The sacral division accelerates the ac¬ 
tivity of the colon and the sympathetic division retards its 
activity. 


XI. How the Nervous System Functions 

After this brief account of the structure and functions of the 
different parts of the nervous system; we shall consider how 
it functions as a whole. We shall treat of these activities in 
two ways. The first will be concerned with the character of 
the response itself, as to whether it is kinetic or postural; the 
second will be concerned with the harmony or lack of harmony 
of the responses in relation to each other. 

The Nervous Impulse. We have described at some length 
the complex structure of the central nervous system. Its func- 


THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


67 


tion is to conduct nervous impulses from one part of the 
body to another. The complex structure of this system is of 
value only in so far as it performs this function successfully. 
What is this nervous impulse which is conducted by the nervous 
system to muscles and glands producing responses? There is 
much that we do not know about it. There are some things 
that we do know. It seems to consist of some chemical changes 
accompanied by a series of changes in electrical potential on the 
surface of the nerve which passes rapidly along the nerve fiber. 

Most nervous impulses originate in the sense organs of the 
body as a result of their stimulation by some outside force. 
What passes from sense organ toward the brain and eventually 
out to the muscle or gland is a series of electro-chemical charges. 
These impulses occur at various rates up to probably 200 to 
300 per second. After each impulse there is a short period dur¬ 
ing which the nerve will not conduct impulses; that is, the im¬ 
pulses are intermittent. In general, strong stimuli produce 
more impulses per second. Generally not one nerve fiber alone 
conducts impulses but several fibers conduct simultaneously. 
Sometimes these impulses in different fibers may synchronize 
and sometimes they may not be in phase, so that the effect of 
twenty neurones conducting 200 impulses per second might 
give a cumulative effect of anywhere from 200 up to 4000 im¬ 
pulses per second. 

The rate at which these impulses travel on the nerve fibers 
varies from only about a yard up to nearly one hundred yards 
per second. The rate varies roughly with the size of the nerve 
fibers; the larger fibers conduct at the more rapid rate. The 
rate may also depend upon the nature of the stimulus. What 
has just been said applies to sensory conduction. In motor 
neurones the number of impulses is less, seldom reaching 100 
per second. 

Muscle Tonus. A muscle is in a passive, flabby state when 
not innervated. But muscles are seldom in this condition ex- 


68 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


cept in sleep or when the nerve connection is severed. Nor¬ 
mally, during waking hours, all the muscles of the body are in 
a condition of partial contraction. We call this tonicity. 
Tonicity depends upon slight nervous currents which continu¬ 
ously flow into the muscles. The amount of this flow, with its 
accompanying tonus, varies under different conditions. In de¬ 
jected states, it is low; in emotional excitement, it is high. 
Under certain conditions it may be so strong that the muscles 
become rigid. 

Tonus plays a very important part in life activities. For 
example, the position of the body is maintained by the tonus 
of the muscles concerned. We sit upright by the maintenance 
of tonus in the opposing muscles of the trunk and neck; we 
stand by maintenance of tonus in the leg muscles. 

An athlete is “ set ” differently for different performances. 
The runner may or may not make any overt movement to the 
signals “ Get ready,” “ Get set,” but he does make tonic 
changes. A bowler or a baseball pitcher has the “ feel ” of the 
movements he is to make. 

This tonic condition of the muscles probably also plays an 
important part in the mental processes in life. Dashiell sug¬ 
gests that this constant body set is the central background for 
personality. It is the broader, more constant background of 
life upon which the more transitive process of thinking is 
superimposed. 

Attention is a matter of set or tonus. We attend to certain 
sounds from the car we drive. We are set to listen for a cer¬ 
tain knock in the engine. This set of attention consists of two 
elements. The first is a general bodily attitude. In attending, 
the general bodily tonus is raised. The body is erect or bent 
forward, the head is held erect, the breathing is shallower, 
the heartbeat is accelerated. In addition to the general bodily 
position, there is a second element — namely, an adaptation of 
the sense organs. If we are listening, we turn our heads to give 


THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


69 


our better ear the advantage. If we are looking, the eyes are 
fixated on the object of attention. In smelling, we sniff the 
odor. In tasting, we move the substance to the most advan¬ 
tageous position in the mouth. 

We set ourselves to different mental tasks. Dashiell ar¬ 
ranged a series of simple problems in addition, subtraction, 
multiplication, and division. To one group of observers, he 
gave the problems arranged according to the different proc¬ 
esses; that is, all the addition problems were placed together, 
all the subtraction problems together, etc. To another similar 
group, he gave the same problems arranged in mixed order; 
that is, an addition problem might follow a problem in multi¬ 
plication, and it, in turn, be followed by a problem in subtrac¬ 
tion. The time required for solving the problems when they 
were in mixed order was about fourteen per cent longer than 
when they were arranged by processes. This additional time 
may be considered as being due to the necessary shifts in set for 
the different processes. 

A person in the presence of another adopts a set or attitude 
toward him. Toward some individuals we take an attitude of 
submission; toward others we take a domineering attitude. 
The salesman presents an attitude toward the prospective 
buyer. The writer well remembers suddenly coming upon a 
representative of one of the larger book companies. The book 
salesman was not expecting to meet the writer for a few mo¬ 
ments. He was not “ set ” for the interview, and as a result, 
he had little to say. He was “ rattled.” Had the meeting oc¬ 
curred a few moments later, when he was set for the interview, 
he would have been composed. 

Ordinarily, when we think of response, we think of overt 
movement. We call such responses phasic responses. They 
have been illustrated in Figures 2 and 4. Such responses con¬ 
sist of the contraction of muscle tissue due to nervous impulses 
of sufficient strength or amount to produce movement. While 


7o 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


the movement has the appearance of a single simple contrac¬ 
tion, all movements are due to a series of innervations instead 
of a single nervous impulse. These innervations come to the 
muscle at the rate of 50 to 60 per second. In this way, the 
effect is cumulative. The result is a movement of greater or 
less strength and amount, depending upon the nature and ex¬ 
tent of these cumulative innervations. Thus we may briefly 
describe the basis of our active adaptations to life situations. 

The tonic contraction of the various muscles of the body, co¬ 
ordinated and controlled through the nervous system, is, in 
reality, a continuous adjustment to our environment. In sleep 
we make very few adjustments and our tonus is low. When 
alertly awake, our adjustments are quicker and more violent. 
Sitting, standing, and attentive postures are all reactions, 
and movement is simply the result of a change in balance of 
innervations. 

Facilitation and Inhibition. If my arm is at rest, the 
flexor and extensor muscles are in the same degree of tension. 
The arm may be at rest if both of these are either very relaxed 
or very tense. Movement depends upon a breaking of the bal¬ 
ance between antagonistic muscles. It is apparent that if any 
movement is to take place, there must be some sort of harmony 
in the innervations of the various muscles. If I am to flex 
my arm, certain muscles must combine to produce this move¬ 
ment. Such cooperation is called facilitation. At the same 
time the extensor muscles must cooperate by failing to con¬ 
tract as strongly as the flexor muscles. This is accomplished 
by a weakening of the nerve currents to these muscles and a 
consequent weakening of contraction. This weakening of con¬ 
traction to enable the antagonistic muscles to operate freely is 
called inhibition. 

No part of the nervous system is completely isolated from 
the rest. Experiments have proved that such a simple reac¬ 
tion as the knee jerk — a kick response elicited by striking the 


THE HUMAN ORGANISM 71 

leg just below the knee — is modified if the subject grips with 
his hand or even thinks during the response. 

As we have already stated, when two activities are more or 
less opposite or antagonistic, we say that one tends to inhibit 
the other. Inhibition may take place in such simple activities 
as reflexes; or it may take place in complex life situations, as 
when stealing or lying is checked by the development of certain 
social or moral codes. Facilitation is of the same general char¬ 
acter except that one response tends to aid, rather than oppose, 
the other. Hunger, for example, facilitates general bodily 
activity. 

Conflict and Integration. Closely related to inhibition and 
facilitation are two other characteristics of behavior: namely, 
conflict and integration. When we are stimulated to make 
two opposed responses, the situation cannot help leading 
either to one of two mutually exclusive acts or to a compromise 
between the two. When the responses are rather complex 
in nature, we give them the name of conflict. Conflicts 
exist in the life of every individual. It is only when they 
become extreme or too numerous that they result in abnormal 
conditions. 

There is a general tendency of any organism, whenever pos¬ 
sible, to react as a unit. This we call integration. Although, 
as we have just said, conflicts inevitably exist, the normal per¬ 
son tends to integrate his activities whenever and wherever it 
is possible. Integration of the right sort results in a better 
adaptation to life. The better integrated we are, the better 
adjusted we are. Learning may be looked upon as the forma¬ 
tion of integrated responses toward the environment. In its 
simpler forms, learning consists in an adaptation and an or¬ 
derly sequence of all activities going on simultaneously or in 
immediate succession. In its complex forms, it consists in the 
ordering and arrangement of life processes according to some 
principle or standard. 


1 2 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


The Reflex as an Integrative Mechanism. Integrative ac¬ 
tivity takes place as a result of some stimulation of a sense 
organ. The stimulation of a sense organ sets up a nervous cur¬ 
rent in the nervous system. If this current is strong, or of a 
particular kind, it runs directly to the cord or brain — to the 
cord if it comes from any part of the body except the head or 
neck, and to the brain, through one of the cranial nerves, if it 
comes from the head or neck. When such a current reaches 
the first synapse, it switches to a motor neurone, runs out to a 
muscle, and produces action. It does not run indiscriminately 



Fig. 15. The Mechanism of a Simple Reflex Arc 


(From Gates, Elementary Psychology, copyright, 

1925, by The Macmillan Company. Reprinted by per¬ 
mission.) 

to any muscle. The one to which it goes depends upon (1) the 
nature of the nervous current, (2) the part of the body from 
which it comes, (3) the organization of the nervous system in 
that particular region, and (4) the previous experiences of the 
individual. 

We may understand these facts better from an illustration. 
Suppose that a bright light was unexpectedly thrown upon the 
eye. The light would set up a nervous current in the sense 
organs of the eye. This nervous current would run to the re¬ 
flex center in the thalamus and from there, because of the 
nature of the current and the place from which it came, it would 
go out over one of the cranial motor nerves to the muscles of 
the eyelid. This would cause the eye to close. The nervous 
mechanism consisting of (1) a sensory pathway, (2) an asso¬ 
ciation pathway, and (3) a motor pathway over which such a 








THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


73 


nervous current passes is called a reflex arc. (See Figure 15.) 
The total time required for the functioning of such a reflex arc 
is approximately one-twentieth of a second. 

Let us consider another example. A man seated before a 
telegraph key is told to press the key as soon as he hears the 
signal to start. In this case, the sense organ in the ear is stimu¬ 
lated. The current goes to the mid-brain, and from thence, by 



Fig. 16. The Mechanism of a More Complex Arc 


(From Gates, Elementary Psychology, copyright, 

1925, by The Macmillan Company. Reprinted by per¬ 
mission.) 

way of the cord, to the muscles of the forearm and fingers. 
We also call the nervous pathway for such an act a reflex arc. 

In these examples, the nervous current passes over relatively 
simple pathways without necessarily entering the cerebrum. 
The examples differ, however, in that in the first one, the nature 
of the stimulus and of the nervous pathway determined the 
form of the response; that is, the pathway over which the cur¬ 
rent passed was the one which offered a lower resistance than 
any other pathway. In this case the lower resistance is in- 









GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


74 

herited. In the second example, the lower resistance is due to 
the previous training of the subject. 



Fig. 17. The Mechanism of a Reflex Arc Involv¬ 
ing Cerebral Activity 

(From Gates, Elementary Psychology, copyright, 1925, 
by The Macmillan Company. Reprinted by permission.) 

Complex Behavior Patterns. Most behavior is more com¬ 
plex than the examples we have just described. If we are walk¬ 
ing over rough pavement, busily engaged in conversation, and 
strike our toe on a rock, the nervous current goes from the sense 
organs in the foot to the cord. Part of it runs over the motor 














THE HUMAN ORGANISM 


75 


pathways back to the muscles of the leg. Another part runs up 
the cord, probably to the mid-brain, and then out to the mus¬ 
cles of the shoulders, arms, and neck. This all produces a co¬ 
ordinated response which checks our tripping or puts us in 
position to protect ourselves in the fall. Such a reaction is 
illustrated in Figure 16. 

In this example part of the act is due to the innate character 
of the pathways and part is a result of training. In fact, in al¬ 
most all complex acts, some part is due to training. If the 
whole pattern is predominantly hereditary, we call it a native 
response; if most of it is a result of training, we call it a learned 
response. But as we have already pointed out, this difference 
is generally one of degree only. 

Much of our activity is more complex than any we have yet 
described. Much”of it is also conscious. All the more complex 
acts and certainly most, if not all, conscious activity is con¬ 
trolled through the cerebrum. Figure 17 illustrates how the 
cerebrum is involved in a complex response. The cerebrum is 
the highest center and may exercise control over the lower 
centers. Yet the nature of the pathways over which the nerv¬ 
ous current passes to the cerebrum differs from the others only 
in complexity. We have no evidence that any new principle 
is present in such behavior. 

When we think, there is some kind of sensory stimulation 
which sets the process off. The nervous current goes to the 
cerebrum and relatively much greater elaboration and coordi¬ 
nation results than in the lower-order habits. The form of re¬ 
sponse consists in incipient movements of muscles in the throat 
or in certain body sets, as in thinking; or in overt movements, 
as in speaking; or in gross movements of some parts of the 
body, as in running. 

Here, as well as elsewhere in this text, it may easily be in¬ 
ferred that there is one neural pathway or one set of pathways 
for each particular act. There are two reasons for such infer- 


76 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


ences. First this is the traditional way of stating the problem, 
and second, it is the simpler way. The experiments of Profes¬ 
sor Lashley raise some serious questions concerning such simple 
explanations. Even after what is supposed to be the usual 
pathways for reflexes or learned responses are completely sev¬ 
ered, Lashley finds these responses still possible. These results 
have led many psychologists to question the traditional fixed 
pathways of responses. Probably a more correct interpretation 
of the functioning of a reflex arc is that it is a patterned re¬ 
sponse. By this it is meant that the route the impulse takes 
is not definitely and immutably fixed but its character is a mat¬ 
ter of the pattern of the response. The form remains similar 
for any response from time to time but the specific pathway is 
not so fixed as we have assumed. More evidence will be neces¬ 
sary before this problem is finally solved. 

The Conditioned Response. In this discussion we have not 
always distinguished between learned and unlearned, or innate, 
behavior. Illustrations have been drawn from both sources. 
We shall now consider further differences between these two 
and indicate how learned responses are developed. 

The child is born with certain predispositions to respond to 
certain kinds of stimuli in certain definite ways. In terms of 
the nervous system this means that there is an inherited lower 
resistance in certain neural pathways. To these we give the 
names reflex and instinct. Some authors would include also 
certain more general tendencies, such as play. It is very likely 
that so-called random movements, like the kicking and squirm¬ 
ing of an infant, should also be classed as innate. 

One of the chief differences between reflexes and instincts 
is in the ease with which they can be modified as the result of 
training or experience. Reflexes are modified only by extensive 
training. In fact some reflexes, such as the pupillary reflex, 
are almost impossible of modification. Others, such as cough¬ 
ing, are much more subject to training. 


THE HUMAN ORGANISM 77 

Let us now consider how these modifications take place. 
While examples of this process are common, the experimental 
study of how it takes place was first made by the Russian psy¬ 
chologist Pavlov not many years ago. In this experiment, 
Pavlov presented a dog with a piece of meat. At the time the 
meat was presented, a bell was rung. A fistula had been con¬ 
structed in the dog’s cheek through which the saliva from one 
of the salivary glands was conducted to a counting device for 
recording the rate of flow. It was found that the rate of flow 
was greatly increased by presentation of the meat. At the 
beginning of the experiment, the ringing of the bell alone pro¬ 
duced no increase of flow. After the meat and the bell had been 
presented together several times, the bell was rung without pre¬ 
senting the meat. Immediately the saliva began to flow as it 
had when the two were presented together. Thus a stimulus 
originally ineffective, through association with a stimulus which 
is effective, may be made to produce a response. 


Before Practice 

Stimulus 

(bell) 

(meat) B 


Response 

a 


After Practice 
Stimulus 


Response 

a 


C (flow of saliva) C (flow of saliva) 

Fig. i8. The Mechanism of the Conditioned Response 


The dotted lines represent potential connections; the solid lines, 
actual connections. At the beginning of the experiment there is a 
connection between the sight of the meat and the flow of saliva. 
There is no connection between the bell and the flow of saliva. The 
ringing of the bell has a number of potential relationships. The sight 
of the meat and the simultaneous ringing of the bell fix the con¬ 
nection A —>c rather than the other possibilities. After practice either 
the ringing of the bell or the presentation of the meat will cause the 
flow of saliva. 


This type of simple learning is illustrated diagrammatically 
in Figure 18. By this means, stimulus A becomes connected 
through association with the B —>c reflex and results in the 


78 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


A—»c response. The only other assumption that we need to 
make in this explanation is that the nervous impulse from the 
substitute stimulus is drained into the B-^c channel. Prac¬ 
tice fixes this connection. The result of this fixation is what is 
called a conditioned response. 

Such processes, with some complications, form the basis of 
all learning. These complications will be further explained in 
the chapter on learning. 


Selected References 

Dashiell, J. F., Fundamentals of Objective Psychology, Chapters 
II-VI. Houghton Mifflin, 1928. 

Gates, A. I., Elementary Psychology, Revised Edition, Chapters 
II-V. Macmillan, 1925. 

Morgan, J. J. B., and Gilliland, A. R., An Introduction to Psy¬ 
chology, Chapter II. Macmillan, 1927. 

Warren, H. C., Human Psychology, Chapters II-VI. Houghton 
Mifflin, 1919. 

Woodworth, R. S., Psychology, Third Edition, Chapters II-IV. 
Holt, 1934. 


CHAPTER III 


INNATE BEHAVIOR 

XII. The Problem of Innate Behavior 

Man’s behavior is made up of two inseparable parts. Part 
of it is inborn and part of it is learned. This chapter will 
deal with the inborn forms of human behavior. Stated in the 
order of their increasing complexity, these are reflexes and in¬ 
stincts. Concerning each of these we wish to know their 
form, to what extent they are uniform in their operation, to 
what extent each may be modified, and how this knowledge 
may be used to increase our efficiency and to increase the har¬ 
mony of our relations with others. 

Meaning of Innate Behavior. Even the most casual stu¬ 
dent of human behavior may observe that individuals are born 
with many mechanisms for adjustment fully mature; that is to 
say, that the neuro-muscular organization necessary for the 
performance of certain acts is ready to function as soon as the 
adequate stimulus which excites it appears. However, ob¬ 
servers have always been impressed with the fact that so many 
important kinds of behavior necessary to a satisfactory adjust¬ 
ment of the organism to its world have to be learned. There¬ 
fore, much emphasis has been placed on the process of learning, 
and discussions of unlearned behavior have always been strongly 
influenced by the practical difficulty which we encounter when 
we attempt to isolate from the vast pattern of behavior of 
which the individual is capable those particular forms of ac¬ 
tivity which are unlearned. 

The process of conditioning, or learning, as it is more com¬ 
monly called, begins as soon as birth is effected. In fact, there 

79 


8o 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


is increasing experimental evidence that conditioning takes 
place, to some extent at least, before birth. It is easy to see 
why our knowledge of innate behavior has been difficult to gain 
and hard to systematize. 

It is possible, however, to gain some insight into the nature 
and the kind of innate behavior found in the human being by 
studying the behavior activities of young infants. We may 
also learn something by contrasting the behavior of certain 
other animals with the behavior of human beings at different 
age levels. 

It is our purpose, therefore, in this chapter to outline as care¬ 
fully as we may those forms of activity which the individual 
organism is observed to produce without any previous experi¬ 
ence in maintaining the coordination of the neuro-muscular 
mechanisms upon which such activity depends. 

Biologically Relevant Activity. We must never forget 
that, regardless of how social, moral, and intellectually su¬ 
perior a human being may become, he is first of all a product 
of a long biologic process. Consequently, he is subject to the 
influences of purely biologic needs and activities. Because he 
is a living creature there are certain biologically relevant ac¬ 
tivities which must be begun and maintained if life is to go on. 
The basic activities upon which the maintenance of life depends 
in its strictest biologic sense are therefore observed from the 
very beginning in all human beings. 

The physical basis for them is to be found in the sense organs, 
nervous system, muscles, and glands of the body. These struc¬ 
tures are present at least in rudimentary form at birth. As the 
structures mature and the appropriate stimuli arise, the par¬ 
ticular form of behavior takes place seemingly without previous 
experience or foresight of the end to be accomplished. Some of 
these basic activities are: breathing, sleeping, circulation of the 
blood, the digestive processes, and the processes of elimination. 

During the development of the human organism some of 


INNATE BEHAVIOR 


81 


these activities may be inhibited, others may be controlled by 
stimuli other than those by which they were originally excited. 
They may be made to fit into a larger social pattern of adjust¬ 
ment; but in so far as the basic motor mechanisms for their 
expression are concerned, these activities are little modified 
by life experience and continue as long as life endures. 

Other Simple Innate Activities. Investigators have discov¬ 
ered, as we shall see later in the chapter, that there is a large 
amount of activity present in the human being at birth or ap¬ 
pearing a few days after birth which does not have the same 
close relation to biologic well-being as those activities mentioned 
in the previous paragraph, but which still constitutes an im¬ 
portant background for the elaboration of behavior as the 
child matures. Such activities as crying, sneezing, hiccough¬ 
ing, stretching, and grasping are apparently possible at birth, 
and the mechanisms upon which they depend are ready to 
function when the child is born. These activities are generally 
known as reflex acts. They are not always simple in compo¬ 
sition and frequently may be aroused by more than one type of 
stimulus. The important thing to remember, however, is that 
the basic reaction mechanism itself is ready to perform from 
the very earliest days of the child’s life. They are, therefore, 
not greatly different from the basic physiological processes such 
as breathing, sleeping, etc. 

More Complex Innate Activities. Some observers have 
placed great emphasis on the fact that because the human or¬ 
ganism is a part of the biologic sequence of living things, it 
therefore possesses just as many fixed and permanent mecha¬ 
nisms for adjustment at birth as any of the other lower forms 
of life. On the other hand some investigators claim that hu¬ 
man beings possess few if any instinctive forms of behavior. 
The controversy as to whether there are or are not instincts 
is not one which we need to go into critically at this point. It 
is sufficient to point out that some forms of behavior are ob- 


82 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


servable which are more elaborate than pure, simple reflex acts. 

It is reasonable to believe that these forms of behavior, diffi¬ 
cult as they are to analyze and describe in terms of pure innate 
mechanisms, may be described as instinctive activity, and this 
descriptive title will be used whenever we are discussing those 
forms of behavior such as are involved in fear reactions, sex 
reactions, resistant reactions, and other types of adjustment 
which in their broad outline seem to be common to all races 
of men and appear to be the natural thing for the individual 
to do where there is a minimum amount of social conditioning 
present. For instance, a human being, a duck, and a sparrow 
can all walk after a certain stage of maturity has been reached, 
but it is more natural for a duck to swim, for a sparrow to fly, 
and for a man to walk. Given a normal environment, each of 
these organisms will follow naturally a locomotor pattern which 
seems to be natural to it and not subject purely to the artificial 
conditioning of the environment in which it may be placed. 

Criteria of Innate Behavior. In spite of the fact that we 
cannot tell with absolute certainty the extent to which an act 
is innate, there are some criteria we can apply which will give 
us a rough approximation of the part played by innate factors. 
The three of these criteria most widely accepted are univer¬ 
sality, unlearnedness, and appearance soon after birth. 

1. Universality. If an act of conduct is common to all mem¬ 
bers of a species, this fact argues the innate nature of the 
conduct. There certainly is a universality in eating, for all 
organisms eat. We can say there is an innate component in 
eating. But universality in itself does not prove innateness. It 
must be shown that there is no uniform environmental element 
which might account for the universality. 

2. Unlearnedness. If on the very first occasion that a be¬ 
havior pattern is permitted to function, it operates in a very 
definite way, we have evidence that the pattern is innate. The 
pupillary reflex in the human being is an example of this. In 


INNATE BEHAVIOR 


83 


a newborn baby the pupil will contract when stimulated by 
a bright light. This response continues practically unmodified 
throughout life. 

3. Appearance soon after birth. The fact that an act is 
present at birth or soon after birth is good evidence that the 
act is innate. However, an act depends upon the maturity of 
the organisms involved. Since some organs do not mature until 
sometime after birth, it is conceivable that the factors deter¬ 
mining this maturation may have been present at birth but the 
act could not appear until the effect of such maturation be¬ 
came apparent. In such a case the resultant act has a greater 
chance to appear in greatly modified form than were it to take 
place immediately at birth. This is true particularly of the 
sexual behavior of organisms. The sex organs do not mature 
until after a period of infancy, and sex conduct awaits such 
maturation. But throughout infancy certain types of training 
may affect the individual so that when sex activity does appear 
it is quite different from what it would have been had there 
been no learning. 

It is apparent that none of these three criteria can be applied 
independently, and it is also apparent that, even when all three 
are applied as rigidly as possible, our answer to the question as 
to what part of adult behavior is dependent upon innate fac¬ 
tors is a relative one. There is a large innate element in the 
fact that a man eats, but the fact that he eats with his fork is 
determined largely by training. There is a large innate element 
in our sex lives, but the manner of a man’s wooing depends upon 
the training he has received even before the maturation of his 
sex glands. 

XIII. Description of Reflex Patterns 

With the development of specialized tissues such as sense 
organs, muscles, and nerves, it is possible to identify behavior 
in some specific terms. A reflex is the name given to an 


8 4 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


arrangement of specialized cells which includes sensory and 
motor components. It is the functional unit of the nervous 
system and represents the simplest mechanism for a receptor- 
adjustor process. 

The Simple Reflex. The simple reflex consists, in its most 
elemental form, of a sense organ irritable to a specific type of 
stimulation (light waves, sound waves, and so on), a sensory 
nerve, which proceeds toward a nerve center, and a motor fiber, 
which conducts the nerve impulse to a muscle or gland. Some 
writers have called it a “ short ” reflex because it involves but 
one neural connection and the circuit from sense organ to 
muscle can be completed in a few hundredths of a second. 
While it is not always the case, more often than not the motor 
impulse distributes to a muscle near the sense organ which it 
stimulated. For instance, a strong light suddenly flashed in 
the eye causes the pupillary opening to become smaller. The 
sensory impulse going into the center sends the motor impulse 
back to the muscle which controls the opening through which 
the light stimulus passed. 

The Compound Reflex. Relatively few reflex acts are as 
simple as that which we have just described. Through the 
agency of nerve centers in the spinal cord, brain stem, and 
cortex, a great deal of elaboration of motor activity as a result 
of sensory excitement frequently occurs. Not only do we ob¬ 
serve a simple muscular reaction at the level of sensory excite¬ 
ment, but we observe a spread of the reaction which may in¬ 
volve motor neurons which distribute to muscles and glands 
both above and below the primary reflex center originally in¬ 
volved. Figures 15, 16, and 17 illustrate types of elaboration 
that frequently occur in compound reflex action. Sucking, 
grasping, standing, and balancing are examples of compound 
reflexes. 

The Chain Reflex. A chain reflex consists of a series of 
smaller reflex units arranged in such a way that each unit as it 


INNATE BEHAVIOR 


85 


completes its function acts as a stimulus to its immediate neigh¬ 
bor, exciting it to action. Swallowing is a good example of 
this type. This act consists of a series of constrictions of the 
ring muscles of the esophagus. The movements proceed down¬ 
ward, each ring of muscle as it contracts acting on the one 
below it as a stimulus to action. 

The Circular Reflex. Circular reflexes are a special type 
of chain reflex. The main difference is in their organization. 
A sensory impulse developing from the preceding muscular ac¬ 
tivity passes back to the center in the cord or brain and then 
out again over the same motor pathway. This type of activity 
tends to maintain continuous action of the same mechanism. 
On the physiological level the continued beating of the heart, 
the maintenance of the grasp one has of an object, and the 
prolonged tonicity of the muscle are examples of this reflex 
action. On the level of acquired behavior, speech develops out 
of a similar reflex mechanism. 

Antagonistic and Allied Reflexes. Compound reflexes 
have been further classified in two ways. They may be 
thought of in terms of their functional relation to each other 
or in terms of their particular structural arrangement. In the 
first instance reflexes are described as antagonistic or allied. 
The antagonistic reflexes are those which involve muscles pro¬ 
ducing quite opposite types of behavior. For instance, we 
may open or close our hand, extend or bend our fingers, but 
we cannot do both of these things at once. The action involved 
in the extension of the fingers is the opposite of that involved 
in bending them. Allied reflexes are those which function in 
such a way that they mutually reenforce each other in their 
effect on the reacting mechanism. For example, a dog, starting 
to scratch itself, shifts its balance on three legs. A runner set 
to start when the pistol is fired has many reflexes allied to give 
him the greatest release of energy possible when the stimulus 
is given. 


86 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


A Classification of Reflexes. Although the following list 
of reflexes is incomplete, it will furnish the student with some 
idea both as to the quantity of observable reflex patterns and 
as to the manner in which they may be affected by the condi¬ 
tioning effects of the environment. It will be observed that 
some reflex patterns may be modified only very slightly dur¬ 
ing the life history of the individual. Others may be subject to 
inhibition or reenforcement. Still others will appear which 
play a very important role in infancy and early childhood, but 
become greatly modified in adult life. 


A. Purest — least subject to central modification in the adult 


Pupillary reflex 
Ear twitching (controlled 
in some individuals) 
Hand withdrawal (to 
heat and pain) 
Myenteric reflexes (op¬ 
eration of stomach 
and intestinal muscles 
in digestion) 


Snoring 

Shuddering 

Starting (to sudden noise, etc.) 

Trembling 

Shivering 

Rhythmic contraction (in epi¬ 
lepsy, etc.) 


B. Largely pure — subject to inhibition or reenforcement 


Winking 
Ciliary reflex 
Eye fixation and conver¬ 
gence 

Hiccoughing 

Sneezing 

Knee-jerk 

Dizziness reflexes 

Yawning 

Vomiting 

Facial reflexes (to bitter 
taste, etc.) 

Salivation 
Tickle reflexes 


Hand twitching (to dermal 
pain) 

Plantar reflex (to stimulus on 
sole of foot) 

Great toe reflex 
Vasomotor changes (blushing, 
paling) 

Breathing changes (to specific 
stimuli and to onset of sleep) 
Sudorific reflexes 
Groaning 
Laughing 

Cramp movements 
Squirming 


INNATE BEHAVIOR 


37 


C. Occasionally pure 
Coughing 

Swallowing and gulping 
Visceral discharge, etc. 
Functioning of sex organs 
Reflexes to odors 
Gasping 
Weeping 


D. 


more often centrally modified 
Sobbing 
Smiling 
Wincing, etc. 

Scowling 
Stretching 

Convulsive contractions (to 
deep dermal pains, and to 
visceral pain) 

Pure in infancy, centrally modified in adult 


E. 


Sucking 

Biting and grinding 
Spitting 

Hunger and thirst re¬ 
flexes 

Lip and tongue reflexes 
Vocal reflexes 
Turning the head 
Tossing 

Grasping (finger reflexes) 
Posture reflexes 
Holding head erect 
Sitting 


Tugging (wrist reflexes) 
Clasping (elbow reflexes) 
Reaching (shoulder reflexes) 
Kicking (knee reflexes) 
Stepping (gluteal reflexes) 
Jumping (ankle reflexes) 
Sitting up 
Bending forward 
Rising 


Standing 

Equilibration 


Characteristics of Reflex Action. The characteristics of 
reflex activity may be summarized as follows: 

i. Reflexes are relatively fixed modes of behavior. It was 
noted at the beginning of this chapter that the organism starts 
out in life with some mechanisms already active and effective. 
It is supposed that these mechanisms form the nucleus around 
which all learned behavior develops. Because they are bio¬ 
logically useful, it is well that they are not easily modified. 
Swallowing and sucking, breathing and sleeping, are necessary 
functions of the human organism if it is to survive. Many 
other reflex mechanisms are just as important. They play their 
role in the maintenance of life and the furtherance of the bio- 


88 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


logical welfare of the organism. Sneezing eliminates objects 
from the nasal cavity which may be detrimental to the organ¬ 
ism. The pupillary reflex protects the retina from too intense 
stimulation. The activity of the heart, the circulation of the 
blood, and the activity of the stomach all depend on regular 
and constant reflex functioning. Variation in action might 
mean injury or death. 

These fixed mechanisms with which we are born are usually 
the ones most likely to function continuously until death. 
They are essential to the maintenance of a purely biological 
existence. Consequently, senility may be far advanced, much 
that the organism has learned may have been forgotten, ac¬ 
quired skills may be long since lost; yet these reflex mechan¬ 
isms function on, keeping the organism alive. 

2. Many reflexes are not under the organism’s control. Sup¬ 
pose it were necessary to direct, by means of attentive control, 
the functioning of the viscera during the reception and digestion 
of food. Suppose one had to attend in order to keep his heart 
beating or his breathing normal. What a difficult time he 
would have! There would be little or no opportunity for him 
to learn anything. He would scarcely be able to acquire those 
new adjustments for which the guidance of attention is so es¬ 
sential. The very fact that most reflex action goes on without 
the direction or control of the individual guarantees that, un¬ 
der normal organic and environmental conditions, each reflex 
mechanism will be active when stimulated and complete its 
functioning in accordance with its general make-up. However, 
there are certain reflexes, not directly connected with the 
intra-organic life of the organism, which undergo modification 
during the life history of the individual. The intensely strong 
grasp of the newborn infant gradually disappears, and there 
is evidence, though not conclusive, that the knee-jerk reflex 
is reduced when other reflex mechanisms are simultaneously 
activated. 


INNATE BEHAVIOR 


89 


3. Reflexes constitute an organic response, unitary in char¬ 
acter. Biologically the organism is put together in such a way 
that it tends to act as a whole. The integrative action of the 
nervous system makes this possible. The organism itself is 
more than a compounding of parts. It is an integrated whole. 
The fertilized ovum is a unit which becomes progressively dif¬ 
ferentiated as it develops. The nervous system, as such, is a 
part of that differentiation. Consequently, each structure, each 
part of the organism, is related to the whole, both structurally 
and functionally. Each reflex pattern is not an isolated mech¬ 
anism, absolutely independent of every other part of the organ¬ 
ism; yet it possesses the capacity to act in relative isolation 
when the need arises. The fact that in any really complicated 
form of behavior both innate reflexes and learned responses 
make up the unit indicates the relation which always exists be¬ 
tween all parts of the organism. While it may be easier to 
think of behavior as a combination of many reflex arcs, and 
while an analysis of any behavior pattern may enable us to 
isolate the factors which played a part in it, it must be remem¬ 
bered that fundamentally the organism acts as a whole, main¬ 
taining its unity and wholeness in relation to its environment. 
The role of the fixed mechanisms becomes clear when seen in 
this light. They are the basic constituents without which 
adaptive behavior would be impossible. 

Experimental Findings. Those interested in the prob¬ 
lem of the innate responses of the human infant owe a great 
debt to John B. Watson 1 for his pioneer work in this field. 
Later workers such as Mrs. M. G. Blanton 2 and the Shermans 3 
have also made further significant contributions. Upon the 

1 Watson, J. B., and Watson, R. R., “ Studies in Infant Psychology.” 
Scientific Monthly , 1921, Vol. 13, pp. 497 ff- 

2 Blanton, M. G., “ Behavior of the Human Infant During the First 
Thirty Days.” Psychological Review, Vol. 24, pp. 456 ff. 

3 Sherman, Mandel, and Sherman, Irene Case, The Process of Human 
Behavior. W. W. Norton and Co., Inc., 1929. 


go 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


basis of her study Mrs. Blanton lists the following forms of 
behavior as unlearned: 

1. Sneezing. Sneezing is often present at birth, even before 
the birth cry itself. The stimulus which elicits this response 
is not well defined. It is a type of activity which persists 
throughout the life of the individual. 

2. Hiccoughing. This act usually does not appear until 
several days after birth, but it has been observed earlier. 
The stimulus which produces this response is thought to be 
the pressure on the diaphragm due to a full stomach. As an 
activity it may occur at any time during the life history of 
the individual. 

3. Crying. This activity is present at birth as the birth cry. 
It quickly becomes conditioned by widely different types of 
stimuli. 

4. Eliminatory functions. Urination and defecation are ac¬ 
tivities possible and often present at birth. At least they be¬ 
come an essential part of the mechanism of the child at a very 
early age. 

5. Orientation activities. The movement of the eyes as they 
follow a bright light or the movements of head and eyes which 
occur when an infant is placed on its stomach are examples of 
orientation activities. Such behavior is observed directly after 
birth. 

6. Gross body movements. These include the random 
movements of arms and legs, grasping, the upward movement 
of the great toe and the downward movements of the others 
(known as the Babinski reflex), kicking, and turning the body 
from a prone to a supine position. Most of the activities ap¬ 
pear at birth or soon after. The grasping reflex loses its potency 
very quickly and the Babinski reflex usually disappears within 
a year. 

7. Food-getting activities. The sucking reflex, accompanied 
by an orientation of the head toward the source of stimulation, 


INNATE BEHAVIOR 


9 i 


is observed in infants not five hours old. Sometimes, however, 
this behavior does not appear till later. 

8. Walking. This complex pattern, involving as it does 
many sensori-motor arcs, may be considered unlearned in its 
primitive form. It is, as Watson says, a slowly developing co¬ 
ordination depending for the most part upon the maturation 
of the child. 

9. Smiling. This activity appears as early as the fourth 
day and at that time seems to be due to the presence of kines¬ 
thetic and tactual stimuli. It persists throughout life and as a 
result of conditioning may be elicited by many other stimuli 
than those mentioned. 

10. Sex activity. Beginning with the susceptibility of 
the erectile tissue to irritation, which appears at birth, the 
whole pattern of sex behavior evolves as the maturation of 
the individual progresses. That the response is subject 
to some modification through conditioning processes is well 
known. 

11. Fear reactions. Watson observed that a loud noise and 
loss of support produced a pattern of reactions involving “ a 
jump, a start, a respiratory pause followed by more rapid 
breathing with marked vasomotor changes, sudden closure of 
the eyes, clutching of the hand, and puckering of the lips. 
After this occurs — depending upon the age of the infant — 
crying, falling down, walking, or running away.” 

12. Rage reactions. These responses are produced in very 
young infants by hampering their body movements. Phases 
of the pattern of this response are stiffening of the body, free 
slashing movements of the arms and legs, and holding of the 
breath. 

13. Love reactions. The stimuli effective in eliciting these 
responses are stroking the skin, tickling, gentle rocking, and 
patting. The pattern of the response involves smiling, gurgling, 
and cooing, and later in development, laughter. 


92 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Mrs. Blanton’s findings relating to these last three types of 
unlearned behavior have been questioned by Sherman and 
others. It is possible that refinements in experimental tech¬ 
nique and a greater number of observations may result in cer¬ 
tain modifications of her results. 

This list of the innate responses of infants is not classified 
according to reflexes and instincts. We may state that those 
given in the first part of the list are generally called reflexes and 
those in the latter part, instincts. This leads us to the problem 
of the difference between these two forms of innate behavior. 


XIV. Instinctive Behavior 

In this section we shall study those forms of behavior which, 
although relatively complex, nevertheless depend largely upon 
innate behavior patterns. We shall find it instructive to com¬ 
pare the instinctive behavior of animals with that of man and 
finally to study the manner in which these instincts build 
themselves into more complex behavior patterns. 

Instincts Illustrated. One of the most striking among the 
facts which present themselves to the observer of the simpler 
organisms is the relative fixity of their adjustments. Among 
insects, for example, we find very elaborate types of behavior, 
such as cocoon building, the construction of other types of 
protective dwellings, the making of provisions for their young, 
and the like. Ants may be observed in very complex social 
behavior which is apparently unlearned. They have a re¬ 
markable division of labor within the colony and show defi¬ 
nite variations in structure to correspond to their differential 
functioning in the social order. A wasp builds her mud nest, 
lays her eggs, and dies without any knowledge of the end in¬ 
volved. The bird builds its nest according to its type. The 
salmon leaves the ocean deeps to swim against a river current 
to its head waters, there to spawn and die. There is very little 


INNATE BEHAVIOR 


93 


modifiability in this behavior and little or no opportunity for 
learning. 

If we observe organisms slightly higher in the biologic scale 
we still find many modes of adjustment which, although very 
complicated in character, are, in so far as their broad outlines 
are concerned, unlearned. However, certain observers have 
found that the disposition on the part of an organism to act 
in a certain way is not always accompanied by absolutely per¬ 
fect performance of the act itself. In other words, plasticity 
and variability within the larger pattern of adjustment indi¬ 
cate that the higher we go in the biologic scale, the less closely 
integrated the mechanism for instinctive adjustment becomes. 
Instincts may be said to become less specific in character and 
more generalized in their appearance. We shall see in the fol¬ 
lowing paragraph that exercise and practice tend to improve 
the performance of certain instinctive activities. 

Experimental Studies on Instinctive Behavior. The peck¬ 
ing activity of young chicks has been studied by Spaulding, 
Breed and Shephard, and Moseley and Bird. All of these men 
noted that chicks showed a marked improvement in their peck¬ 
ing reaction after practice. Although the striking response of 
the young chick was fairly uniform and accurate from the very 
beginning, the seizing and swallowing reflexes improved with 
practice. Also, the young chick had to learn what to peck at 
and what not to seize. 

Scott studied the vocalization of birds. He found that when 
young orioles were removed from their nest immediately upon 
being hatched, and grew up away from older birds of the same 
species, they naturally began to sing when the maturation 
process had progressed far enough. However, the song was not 
the traditional notes and rattle of the oriole. Characteristic 
elements of the bird’s song were present but in a different 
pattern. 

Conradi allowed young swallows to grow up in the company 


94 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


of canaries and observed the way in which these birds ac¬ 
quired a trill characteristic of the canaries with which they were 
reared. Spaulding also observed the flying activities of young 
birds and noted that while it was natural for them to fly, they 
flew better after practice. 

Yerkes and Bloomfeld carried out an experiment to deter¬ 
mine whether kittens instinctively kill mice. They observed 
the behavior of 12-day old kittens, finding no specific response 
to a mouse stimulus. Although one of the subjects attacked the 
mouse at the age of four weeks, it was not until much later that 
the complete sequence of chasing, attacking, killing, and eating 
the mouse was carried out. A wide range of individual differ¬ 
ences in behavior was observed. 

These studies indicate that instinctive reactions of organisms 
even lower in the scale of evolution than man are subject to 
some conditioning effects of the environment and are also de¬ 
pendent upon practice for their perfection. Instinctive be¬ 
havior in man involves even greater instability than in lower 
forms of life and also is more radically conditioned by stimuli 
of a social character and not dominantly determined by stimuli 
which are biologically relevant. 

Characteristics of Instincts in Man. The study of the in¬ 
stinctive activity of man has been for many years handicapped 
by the assumption that man has all the instincts that animals 
possess. It was the custom to observe the instinctive behavior 
of animals and then to infer that man had the same unlearned 
tendencies. Recent observation of human infants has dispelled 
these illusions, and we now know that the human infant has 
relatively few unlearned behavior patterns and that the few 
which he does have form a very minor part in the extended 
elaboration of behavior which man’s greater complexity and 
plasticity of structure permit. 

1. Instincts in man are not clearly defined. The tendencies 
toward a definite type of behavior which can be definitely de- 


INNATE BEHAVIOR 


95 

termined are ill defined in man. Because of his tremendous 
adaptability, his great power of learning, any complex instinc¬ 
tive pattern is soon overlaid and modified. As an infant, he 
is helpless. For years he is incapable of making his own way 
in the world. He is cared for, fed, clothed, and nurtured by 
loving care and tenderness, with the result that by the time 
he is in a position to exert himself and make his own way, man 
has taken on the coloring of his environment. He speaks a 
particular language, has adopted customs and habits of thought 
and conduct common to his group, and in many ways has so 
modified instinctive behavior that its only distinguishing mark 
is the urge or tendency to act in a certain way. He may have 
the urge to eat, but the particular way in which his eating is 
done or the particular food that he eats is a matter of the cus¬ 
tom and convention of his group. He may have the instinctive 
urge to reproduce, but the love-making and home-building pre¬ 
liminary to mating will be determined by local custom and en¬ 
vironmental needs. As a child he will naturally or instinctively 
play, but the characteristic games and methods will be different 
in different countries and societies. 

2. Instincts as an expression of a biological urge. All the 
so-called instinctive activity of man rests upon his basic urge 
to action. As long as an organism has life, it tends to act in 
some manner or other. When some circumstance in its en¬ 
vironment threatens to destroy its integrity as an organism, its 
activity is increased. Some situations or stimuli in the environ¬ 
ment accentuate this tendency to action while others tend to 
restrain it. In infancy we respond to these harmful situations 
by vague activities but we soon make our behavior specific as 
we learn which reactions tend to remove the noxious condi¬ 
tions. The life story of man is largely the account of his 
change from an inefficient and foolishly behaved child to an 
adult who responds efficiently and intelligently to his environ¬ 
ment. We can assume that the biological urge is behind all 


96 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


conduct, but it is a thing to be taken for granted rather than 
used to explain specific behavior. 

3. Instincts are modified by social demands. Whether the 
biological urge to activity is still in its undifferentiated form or 
whether it has become specific, it is continually running coun¬ 
ter to social and environmental restrictions. Conduct is a com¬ 
promise between our inner urges and social restraints. We 
want to eat; but we cannot steal our food, eat it with our 
hands, or spill it over our bodies and at the same time gain the 
approval of our comrades. We gratify our impulse to eat but 
we do it by earning our food and eating it in the approved 
fashion. A pig makes no compromise with society; he eats un¬ 
restrainedly to gratify himself. 

When some urge cannot get a direct expression, it may mani¬ 
fest itself in some indirect form. This is called sublimation. 
A woman, being denied a family, may gain satisfaction in teach¬ 
ing school, adopting a child, nursing, managing an orphanage, 
or even in mothering a cat or dog. The interest many persons 
show in their chosen work often depends upon such a situation. 
They make good workers so long as the work continues to be 
an outlet for an otherwise ungratified urge, but let the urge be 
gratified and the interest in the work vanishes. A woman de¬ 
voted to child welfare work in a certain community suddenly 
lost all interest when she became a mother. One who has to 
deal with people should understand this principle in all its subtle 
forms. 

An instance of an instinctive tendency conflicting with social 
inhibitions is seen in the case of a little boy who is frightened 
by a dog. He wants to cry and run but he dare not do so for 
fear of the taunts of his comrades. His instinctive fear may 
win and he may run; social pressure may win and he may chase 
the dog; or he may make some sort of compensatory adjust¬ 
ment. Examples of the last form of reaction would be: the boy 
tries to sick the dog on another boy in order to get rid of him; 


INNATE BEHAVIOR 


97 


he accuses another boy of being afraid in the hope that this boy 
will chase the dog to show his bravery; or he secretly poisons 
the dog in order to prevent any meeting with him. 

Classification of Instinctive Responses. All conduct may 
be said to spring from one general tendency to be continuously 
active and it is possible to classify the forms in which this tend¬ 
ency expresses itself. Classification of these forms, however, is 
merely descriptive of behavior observed from an external point 
of view and does not presuppose any specific types of urge to 
correspond. It includes (i) acts which tend to preserve one’s 
own life, (2) acts which tend to preserve the race, (3) acts 
which intensify ego tic experience, and (4) acts which facilitate 
social survival. 

1. Those which facilitate survival. The seeking and accept¬ 
ing reactions, resistance, including rejection or withdrawal, as 
well as struggling and fighting, and perhaps the play reactions 
(although this is questionable) are instinctive tendencies of 
this group. The newborn infant shows “ starting ” behavior 
when support is removed, when loud sounds are suddenly in¬ 
troduced, or when it is immersed in water. Within two or three 
days after birth, definite withdrawing responses are elicited 
by nocuous stimuli and by intense tactual stimulation on the 
feet or hands. If a baby’s hands are held or its limbs re¬ 
strained, thereby making the usual random movements impos¬ 
sible, there usually follows definite struggling behavior. Ap¬ 
parently the elaboration of this primitive resistance constitutes 
the fighting reactions of the more mature child. 

As these reactions appear in infants, there can be no knowl¬ 
edge of the end involved, but they represent very necessary 
forms of behavior for the preservation of the individual from 
a biological point of view. 

2. Those which facilitate racial survival. In this group of 
tendencies we have those which depend upon the maturation 
of the individual for their physical basis. To a certain extent 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


98 

they are subject to the conditioning influences of custom, con¬ 
vention, and the mores of the group. 

The urge to mate is common to all species. In human be¬ 
ings this tendency gradually becomes dominant as adolescence 
passes into early maturity with the accompanying maturation 
of those intro-organic functions upon which the act of mating 
depends for its essential fulfillment. Courting and love-making, 
which are preliminary to the mating itself, take on the color¬ 
ing of the social custom of the group. 

Parental love and care for the young, and the love responses 
for the offspring, develop biologically with the tendency, as 
evolution of higher forms advances, toward prolonged infancy 
and helplessness of the young. Racial continuity, as well as 
immediate social organization, depends upon them. 

3. Those which intensify egotic experience. The child 
gradually senses his individuality, and much of his behavior is 
an expression of his instinctive tendencies to intensify this 
experience of selfhood or individuality. Acquiring things or 
collecting objects of no value except to the child who acquires 
or collects them illustrates the phenomenon. The child, un¬ 
der normal conditions, seeks egotic expression. The dominant 
person is egotic and has positive affective experience from his 
supremacy. The man collects and builds and creates primarily 
because of his instinctive desire to further his egotic expres¬ 
sion. A very important aspect of human behavior is found 
here. John Dewey suggests that it is better to say that the real 
proof of existence is, “I possess; therefore I am.” Even the 
most apparent altruism has its real foundation in egotic desire 
and the individual tendency to achieve self-expression. If you 
wish to make and keep a friend, never do anything to lower 
his self-esteem. 

4. Those which facilitate social survival. Man cannot and 
does not live alone. Throughout the long evolutionary de¬ 
velopment of living things, the tendency toward the main- 


INNATE BEHAVIOR 


99 


tenance of group relationship becomes more and more evident 
as the highest level of development is attained. The protective 
reactions of parents, the filial relationships of children to par¬ 
ents, the broader tendencies toward social sympathy and 
conformity are present in all men. They form the basis for 
social continuity and social relationships, as well as the battle 
ground for all personality conflicts. To satisfy the urge to¬ 
ward self-expression and to maintain at the same time the 
adequate satisfaction of social needs is not easy. The struggle 
for survival may once have been primarily biological even on the 
human level. It is rapidly becoming a social one. 

The Integration of Instinctive Tendencies. Anyone who 
analyzes his own life history or who observes carefully the 
lives of those about him soon comes to realize that in normal 
conditions these instinctive tendencies form the basis for a 
satisfactory development of individual personality and social 
continuity. The most highly developed human being is one 
whose behavior gives evidence of an adequate balancing of 
these tendencies. Normality consists in the maintenance of 
satisfactory adjustment between the organism and the environ¬ 
ment. The biological, egotic, and social drives of the individual 
are expressed in behavior in terms of environmental demands 
and immediate needs. Environmental demands which inhibit 
adequate expression of instinctive tendencies cause repression 
on the part of the individual. From the point of view of de¬ 
veloping a balanced personality, this may be dangerous or dis¬ 
astrous. But on the other hand, overexpression may become 
socially undesirable and create as a result a social problem. 

The urge to eat, to make love, to reproduce, to accumulate 
material goods, to be with one’s own kind are not fotmd in 
isolation but in combination. The balancing of these tendencies 
into an integrated program of behavior is facilitated by the in¬ 
telligence with which a man discovers himself and acquires a 
mastery over his environment. 


100 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


The Significance of Unlearned Behavior. The way in 
which these innate forms of behavior become elaborated into 
modern life is a problem for the latter half of this text. Suffice 
it here to point out that it is upon the basis of this innate be¬ 
havior that all learning is superimposed. If native forms of 
response do not meet the needs of the individual, such forms 
are modified and other more efficient forms are discovered. 
The complexity of these modifications runs the gamut from 
the simplest responses of bacteria and other single-celled plants 
and animals to the most complex economical and social re¬ 
sponses of man. Yet this basis, as we have just stated, is in¬ 
nate; furthermore, as has been indicated here and as we shall 
see in a later chapter, the drives for more adequate adjustments 
are fundamentally innate. Dashiell and others have shown 
that these are largely due to tissue needs of the body. 

It may seem a far cry from the instinctive need for food to 
the elaborate economic institutions and methods of modern so¬ 
ciety. Nevertheless, for an adequate understanding of these 
forms of adjustment, we must look to the innate drives of man. 

Much of the older psychology and much modern economic 
theory is constructed on the false assumption that many sorts 
of complex forms of behavior are expressions of instincts. 
These, it is believed, explain the complicated forms of modern 
social organization. Modern psychology has discovered that 
such explanations are only names and not explanations. If we 
are to understand such complex forms of behavior, they must 
be resolved into their elemental sources. 

Food-getting tendencies and other human drives have be¬ 
come most complex in form and function. Modern home-life 
is an elaboration of several innate tendencies but undoubtedly 
sex is the strongest of these. Political life is so complex that 
it is next to impossible to analyze it. Elements present in it 
are food drives that bring people together, the drives back of 
home-organization that help in the formulation of social re- 


INNATE BEHAVIOR 


IOI 


lationships, and other such varied needs as temperature, thirst, 
and the desire to be with others of the same type or race, if 
the last be innate. To these must be added the whole list of 
innate tendencies which we call emotional. (See Chapter XI.) 

Under the stress of emotional experience and in situations 
where the environmental stimuli become excessive, the indi¬ 
vidual tends to react along his most innate and most fixed path¬ 
ways. Under conditions that the individual recognizes as 
threatening his survival, the most fixed habit is not so likely to 
function as are reflexes and instinctive behavior. When learned 
modes of behavior are inadequate and experiment fails to pro¬ 
duce a satisfactory new coordination, older pathways carry the 
burden of the adjustment. A knowledge of the nature and the 
strength of these instinctive tendencies enables one to select 
stimuli for their arousal and, by this means, to exercise some 
control over the behavior of others. 

The advertiser tries to develop stimuli which will secure and 
hold the attention of people, knowing that this is the first pre¬ 
requisite for further control of their behavior. After their 
attention has been gained, he may appeal to any one of the in¬ 
stinctive tendencies of man, depending upon his purpose or the 
end that he seeks. Propaganda for war, if properly directed 
and controlled, may by appealing to man’s tendencies to resist¬ 
ance or protection create a positive emotional attitude. The 
salesman, knowing that one of man’s fundamental desires is to 
possess, may manipulate stimuli in such a way as inevitably 
to call out this type of response. Or he may play upon the 
egotic tendencies as a whole and, by making the individual have 
an exaggerated sense of well-being and importance, secure his 
own ends through this means. 

The executive dealing with men must recognize that there 
are differences among them due to individuality and to vary¬ 
ing environmental conditioning, but that the same basic tend¬ 
encies are operative in all men, although different tendencies 


I0 2 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

may be dominant in each particular case. The man who effec¬ 
tively handles men knows how to play upon these instinctive 
tendencies and, by controlling the responses, gains the coopera- 
' tion he seeks, and gets the work done. 

Finally, in the development of quantitative measures for the 
selection of men for specific jobs, an application of the princi¬ 
ple governing innate human behavior is essential. Men who 
have failed to develop adequate self-expression on account of 
unfavorable environment or unfortunate repression do not suc¬ 
ceed in many types of business. It is essential, for instance in 
selling, that a man be socially dominant in his relationship 
with the buyers of his commodity. It is evident, then, that 
in any field where attempts are made either to select and con¬ 
trol individuals for specific tasks or to influence in a general 
way the behavior of people, knowledge of the fundamental be¬ 
havior mechanisms is necessary if success is to be assured. 

Selected References 

Dashiell, J. F., Fundamentals of Objective Psychology, Chapters 
VII and VIII. Houghton Mifflin, 1928. 

Hunter, W. S., General Psychology, Part II, Chapter III. Uni¬ 
versity of Chicago Press, 1923. 

McDougall, Wm., An Introduction to Social Psychology, Eighth 
Edition, Chapters II-IV. Luce, 1926. 

Watson, J. B., Psychology from the Standpoint of the Behaviorist, 
Chapter VIII. Lippincott, 1924. 

Woodworth, R. S., Psychology, Third Edition, Chapters V, VI, and 
VIII. Holt, 1934. 


CHAPTER IV 


SENSORY PROCESSES 

XV. The Function of Sense Organs in 
Human Adjustments 

Since man’s great task is to adjust to his environment, the 
development of specialized sense organs which enable him to 
interpret his environment has been of inestimable value. Some 
of these sense organs, being more highly specialized, are of 
greater value than others, and consequently deserve more 
study. Before studying the specific sensory processes, we shall 
take a perspective of the whole field of sensory activity. 

Sensitivity without Specialization. One of the common 
characteristics of all living things is that they are sensitive to 
the external world. Indeed, sensitivity is one of the essential 
conditions of life, for if one could not receive any impression 
from the external world, he would not be able to respond or act 
in any manner. While the fact of sensitivity is apparent, the 
degree of sensitivity in different types of organisms varies 
tremendously, and these variations are, at least to a rough ex¬ 
tent, correlated with the degree of specialization of the sensory 
apparatus to receive impressions from without the organism. 
Each organism lives in a sphere which is literally circum¬ 
scribed by the capacity of its sensory mechanisms. 

We can observe in the lowest forms of life responses to en¬ 
vironmental situations even though no specialized receptor or¬ 
gans have been developed. It is this type of sensitivity which 
was described in the last chapter as giving rise to simple un¬ 
learned and undifferentiated reactions, called tropisms. 

103 


104 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


In animals a little higher in the biological scale we find the 
beginnings of sense organs. In some cases these are very crude 
and it is occasionally very difficult to discover the exact nature 
of the stimulus to which they are responding. Consider, for 
instance, the blindworm of England. This limbless lizard is 
commonly regarded as being unable to see, since its behavior 
shows that many of those visual stimuli which, falling upon 
man’s retina produce visual impressions and evoke responses, 
leave it entirely unmoved. But let a little slimy, putty-colored 
slug, know as Limax Agrestis, appear on the scene, and there 
is an instantaneous response on the part of the blindworm. 
Something makes this animal sensitive to the presence of the 
Limax Agrestis, but this sensitivity is due to some capacity 
different from simple vision. 

Specialized Sense Organs. In the higher animals we find 
very highly specialized sense organs, each sensitive to some 
different aspect of the external world and capable of translating 
this specific aspect into nerve currents which can become in¬ 
tegrated with the rest of the animal’s life. The animal de¬ 
velops specialized receptors in the skin that enable it to make 
better responses to objects with which it comes in contact. 
It develops taste buds that enable it to distinguish foods from 
poisons or inedible objects. It develops smell receptors which 
enable it to distinguish objects before they come in contact 
with the tongue. 

In smell we have the simplest type of distance receptors or 
sense organs which receive impressions without coming into 
actual contact with the stimulating body. Highest in the scale 
of specialized sense organs are the distance receptors, the eye 
and the ear. Much of our superior development hinges on 
the development of these two distance receptors. 

The development of specialized cells which became sensitive 
to various types of stimulating conditions took many forms. 
The eye, developing from the pigmented cells, assumed many 


SENSORY PROCESSES 


I0 5 


differentiations according to the line of variation which marked 
its progress. Some eyes became specialized for visual acuity in 
decreased illumination; others became sensitive to microscopi¬ 
cally small objects and differences; still others became espe¬ 
cially efficient in long-distance or telescopic vision. 

As we proceed upward on the animal scale, each sense organ 
appears in various stages of complexity, until we find in man 
a set of sense organs peculiarly adapted to his environmental 
needs. He does not have the microscopic eye of the fly, nor 
the sensitive smell organs of the dog, nor the highly sensitive 
ear of the deer. He is adapted to a middle range of sensitive¬ 
ness. Being a free-moving animal, possessed of a superior 
brain and a creative capacity, man can extend the range of his 
sensitiveness as his needs for extension develop. He does this 
by creating instruments of precision to compensate for his in¬ 
adequacies, as is exemplified in the invention of the microscope 
and the telescope. 

Sensation as Part of a Reaction Process. Sensations 
should be regarded as one stage in the individual’s process of 
adjustment, never as isolated incidents. A sound wave strik¬ 
ing the ear is something to stimulate a reaction. If it has no 
significance for the individual, it may merely produce a vibra¬ 
tion of the mechanism in his ear. It may be a danger signal, 
the voice of a friend, or a selection of beautiful music. Each 
of these is responded to in a different manner. How does it 
happen that we respond in this differential manner? This will 
be one of the objectives of our study. We shall first study the 
various sense devices and then, in later chapters, determine how 
the impressions come to have significance and to produce the 
various reactions which we find. We shall discover that a 
stimulus which, in the early stages of a child’s life, produces 
an indifferent response may come to be elaborated to such an 
extent that the response is extremely complex and enduring. 

In order to get a general perspective of the various sources 


io6 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Table II. Classification of Stimuli, Receptors, 
and Sensory Modalities 


(From Dashiell, Fundamentals of Objective Psychology. 
By permission of Houghton Mifflin Company.) 


Stimuli 

Receptors 

Sensitivity 

I. Energy changes in the 
environment 

Light 

Sound 

Heat (and cold) 
Pressure 

Chemicals 

Chemicals 

Exteroceptors * * * § 

in eye 

in ear (cochlea) 
in skin 
in skin 
in nose 
in tongue 

visual 

auditory 

cutaneous 

cutaneous 

olfactory 

gustatory 

II. Changes in position and 
movement of organism 
Of parts 

Of whole 

Proprioceptors f 

in muscles, tendons, 
joints, in ear (canals 
and vestibule) 

kinesthetic 

static 

III. General organic condi¬ 
tion of alimentary canal 
and other viscera 

Interoceptors t 


Emptiness or disten¬ 
sion of a viscus, chem¬ 
ical substance, etc. 

in linings of canal and 
other deep tissue 

organic 

IV. Conditions tending to 
do immediate injury 

Nociceptors § 
in skin 

in nearly all important 
organs deep and su¬ 
perficial 

pain 


* Exteroceptor: a sense organ located on or in the surface of the body; 
irritable to external stimulation. 

t Proprioceptor: a sense organ irritable to body movement, 

t Interoceptor: a sense organ irritable to physiological changes within 
the body. 

§ Nociceptor: a sense organ located in or on any part of the body which, 
when stimulated, gives sensitiveness to pain. 















SENSORY PROCESSES 


107 


and types of incoming nervous currents, we have presented 
in Table II a classification of types of sensitivity and their 
stimuli. 


XVI. Visual Sensitivity 

The eye is an apparatus, similar in principle to a camera, 
which transforms light waves into nervous currents. Having a 
very intricate task to perform, it is a very complex organ and, 
being very sensitive, it is equipped with various devices for 
adjustment and protection. It has mechanisms for enabling 
us to react differently to colors of various hues, brightness, and 
saturation, and for aiding us in learning spatial relations, such 
as areas, movement, and distance. On the other hand, it is 
poorly adapted for giving us an adequate conception of time 
relations. It is primarily a space receptor. 

The Human Eye. The eye resembles a camera. It is es¬ 
sentially a dark chamber in the front of which is a tiny open¬ 
ing, the pupil. The pupil is adjustable in size through the 
operation of the iris, which corresponds to the diaphragm of 
the camera. When the illumination is poor, the pupil becomes 
larger; when the illumination is intense, the pupil becomes 
smaller. Behind the pupil is a lens which refracts the incom¬ 
ing rays of light and brings them to a focus on the retina, the 
sensitive part of the eye. In a camera adjustment to distance 
is made by changing the distance between the lens and the sen¬ 
sitive film. In the eye the distance between the lens and the 
retina is constant and adjustment to the distance of an object 
is made by a change in the thickness or curvature of the lens. 
The general similarity between the parts of the eye and the 
parts of a camera is illustrated in Figure 19. 

Each eye, almost spherical in shape, is supported in its 
socket by three pairs of muscles. Controlled by these muscles, 
the eye can move, within limits, in any direction. Normally, 
visual experiences are based on the coordination of the images 


io8 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


in both eyes and, in order to effect such harmony, the eyes 
move and adjust synchronously. The general arrangement of 
these muscles is shown in Figure 20. 

The walls of the eye (see Figure 21) consist of three coats. 



Fig. 19. Comparison of the Parts of the Eye and the 
Parts of a Camera 


(1) Outside is a tough fibrous coat, called the sclerotic coat. 
In the front part of the eye this coat is called the cornea. 

(2) The second coat, which is very dark, is called the choroid 
coat. The pigmented part of the eye known as the iris is the 
front section of the choroid coat. (3) The third and innermost 








SENSORY PROCESSES 


coat is the retina. This coat is the sensitive layer upon which 
the incoming light rays are focused and by means of which they 
are transformed into nervous currents to be transmitted to the 
brain. The retina is absent in front and covers only a little 
more than half of the back portion of the eye. 

All of the media through which the light passes as it goes to 
the retina are transparent. Between the cornea and the crys¬ 
talline lens the area is filled with a transparent fluid called the 


aqueous humor. Behind 
the lens in the inner cham¬ 
ber is a thicker substance 
known as the vitreous hu¬ 
mor. The fact that the 
eyeball is filled in this 
manner aids in the main¬ 
tenance of its spherical 
shape. 



Stump o f ; 
External Pectus 


The retinal surface (il¬ 
lustrated in greatly magni¬ 
fied form in Figure 22), is 


Fig. 20. The Muscles of the 
Eyeball 


a very complex structure. 

It is composed of layers of cells. That layer nearest the 
choroid coat is made up of rods and cones. These rods and 
cones contain chemical substances which are very sensitive to 
the stimulation of light waves. This chemical activity in the 
rods and cones is transformed into neural energy which is 
transmitted through successive layers of nerve cells and is 
finally distributed as a nerve impulse along the optic nerve. 
It first enters the mid-brain. From there other pathways lead 
to the occipital lobe of the brain. 

The rods and cones are specialized structures. It is thought 
that they are differentiated so that the cones are sensitive to 
colored light and the rods to achromatic or colorless light. A 
proof of the validity of this idea is found in the general loca- 




no 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


tion of the rods and cones. At the central portion of the back 
of the eye cones are predominant, and in the sensitive spot im¬ 
mediately behind the center of the crystalline lens, called the 
fovea (a spot of clearest vision), only cones are found. The 
rods are located on the periphery of the retina. If the pe¬ 
riphery is stimulated, even by an intense color, only a light re¬ 
sponse is received. 


CILIARY MUSCLE 



The point on each retina where the optic nerve leaves the 
eye is known as the blind spot, because there are no sensitive 
cells to be found there. Under normal binocular vision we are 
never aware of the blind spot. When conditions are controlled, 
one may locate it on either retina. Follow the directions as 
given in Figures 23 and 24 and you will discover the blind spot. 

The Physical Basis for Vision. Light waves are the ade¬ 
quate stimuli for visual sensitivity. A light wave is due to a 
vibration in a medium often called the ether. The range 







SENSORY PROCESSES 


hi 



Fig. 22. Diagram of a Cross Section of the Retina Show¬ 
ing the Rods and Cones with their Neural Connections 


I, the pigment layer; II, the rod and cone layer; III, the outer 
nuclear layer; IV to VIII, the layer of bipolar cells; IX and X, the 
ganglion cells and their nerve fibers which go to make up the optic 
nerve. 

through which these vibrations become stimuli for the eye is 
well defined. The waves to which the eye is sensitive vary in 
length from 390 millionths of a millimeter (violet) to 760 mil- 




































112 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Months of a millimeter (red). The waves also vary in ampli¬ 
tude of vibration and in wave form. Light travels at a rate ptf 
186,300 miles a second. 

A word of explanation should be given here as to the mean¬ 
ing of these terms. The rapidity with which each particle of 
the wave oscillates is called the rate of vibration. The rate is 
the determining factor in the length of the wave from crest to 
crest. The shorter the wave, the more rapid the vibration rate 
and vice versa. 

The amplitude of the wave is determined by the extent of 
the oscillation of each particle. The wave form depends upon 


■ 



+ 


Fig. 23. The Blind Spot 


Hold the page directly in front of and about ten inches away 
from the eyes. Close the left eye and fixate the right eye upon the 
cross. Move the page slowly forward and backward. If the eye 
continues to fixate on the cross a point will be found where the 
circle completely disappears. At points both nearer to and farther 
away from the eye the circle is seen. 

the total number of waves acting on the same particle at the 
same time. 

Analysis of Color Sensitivity. The human eye is capable 
of distinguishing about one hundred fifty different hues. A 
person can pick out from an assorted pile of colored papers 
many different degrees of blue, green, yellow, red, etc. In do¬ 
ing so he may discover that some of these colors blend into one 
another. There is no hard and fast line of cleavage between 
them. This is to be expected because the colors in the spectrum 
do exactly the same thing. 

Investigators have found that colors arranged in series may 
be classified in three ways. First, we may arrange them ac¬ 
cording to their selective brightness; second, according to their 


SENSORY PROCESSES 113 

hue or color tone; and third, according to their saturation or 
purity of color. 

In general, hue, or color tone, depends upon the wave length 
or the frequency of vibration of the light wave. Brightness 
depends in a general way upon the energy or intensity of the 
stimulus — that is, the amplitude of the light wave. Saturation 
is generally described as depending upon wave form or the 


+ 


Fig. 24.. The Blind Spot 

Follow the directions given for Figure 23. In this case the white 

spot will disappear and the entire square will appear black. 

mixture of long and short wave lengths in any stimulus 
pattern . 1 

In Table III are classified the color qualities and their rela¬ 
tive wave lengths. 

1. The hue series. If an experimenter arranged various 
colored papers according to their hue, beginning with a red, 
he would find some reds that seemed to have a yellowish tinge 
and others that seemed to have a bluish tinge. In other words, 
from pure red one passes toward yellow in one direction and 

1 Another explanation for saturation has many arguments in its 
favor. Saturation is described as dependent upon the number of units 
of light per unit area on the retina. For example, if a certain amount 
of green be so arranged that it stimulates twice as much of the retina, 
the saturation will be half as great. 




GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


114 

toward purple and violet in the other. From yellow the in¬ 
dividual passes to green; then to blue. The hue series tends 
to run in a circle. We come back to red from the blue. 

2. The intensity series runs from light to dark. Take any 
color and arrange various papers of the same hue in order of 
their brightness. From a brightness in which hue is barely 


Table III. Wave Lengths and Color Qualities 


Fraunhofer’s 

Lines 

Millions of 
Millions of* 
Vibrations per 
Second 

Wave Length 

* 

Color 



MM 


A 

395 

760 

Extreme red 

B 

437 

686 

Red 

C 

458 

656 

Limit of red and orange 

D 

5 io 

589 

Golden yellow 

E 

57 o 

526 

Green 

F 

618 

486 

Cyanean blue 

G 

697 

430 

Limit of indigo and violet 

H 

757 

396 

Limit of violet 


discernible, we may pass through a well-saturated and uni¬ 
formly intense area to a dark area in which hue is scarcely 
apparent. 

3. The saturation series ranges from a hue that is a full- 
toned color to one that is pale or dull. A fully saturated color 
is one which is just as colorful as it can possibly be. Less satu¬ 
rated colors have a washed-out appearance. Minimum satura¬ 
tion approximates gray. White, black, and gray are often not 
considered as hues, but as differences in intensity, of which 
there are more than one hundred. 







SENSORY PROCESSES 


ii5 

Figure 25 shows how all variations in saturation, hue, and 
brightness may be diagrammatically represented. The axis WB 
represents the grays from white to black. The edge of the 
intersecting plane represents all the 
changes in hue from blue (B), through 
blue-green ( BG ), to green (G), and so 
on through yellow, red, and the inter¬ 
mediate hues. Saturation is repre¬ 
sented as one passes from the surface 
of the pyramid toward the center. 

Facts of Color Vision. In con¬ 
nection with our ability to distinguish 
differences in hue, brightness, and 
saturation a number of very interest¬ 
ing facts have been discovered. We 
shall summarize these facts and then 
state two theories that have been ad¬ 
vanced to explain them. 

1. Color mixing. The customary 
way to mix colors in the psychological Fig 25 The Color 
laboratory is to rotate disks the sur- Pyramid 

faces of which are divided into sectors (From xitchener> Text . 
of various color values. When such book of Psychology, 
disks are rotated with sufficient speed, copyright, 1910, by The 

the component colors blend. Such Macmillan Company 
. . .. , . t i j r Reprinted by permission.) 

blending may also be accomplished by 

using mirrors to reflect lights so that they fall upon identical 
parts of the retina. When colors are mixed in either of these 
manners, certain principles are found to hold. 1 

1 Note that these principles do not always hold if paints or pigments 
are mixed. Color mixing by means of the color wheel or mirrors is based 
upon the same general principle as the superposition of one transparent 
color upon another. When pigments are used, however, the mixing con¬ 
trols the type of light waves which are reflected. These two methods of 
color mixing may or may not produce the same results. In the majority 
of cases they do not. 






n6 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


(a) For each hue one, and only one, other hue can be found 
which, when mixed with it, will give a colorless gray. Such 
colors are called complementary colors. In Table IV are given 
some illustrations of such complementary colors. The length 
of the color wave is in millionths of a millimeter. 

Some idea of the relative hue of these colors may be gained 
by using the figures and descriptions found in Table III. 


Table IV. Table of Complementary Colors for Two 
Observers 


Observer 

von Kries 

Observer von Frey 

Long Light Wave 

Complementary 

Long Light Wave 

Complementary 

in nn 

Short Wave 

in n/x 

Short Wave 

656.2 

492.4 

656.2 

485.2 

626 

492.2 

626 

484.6 

612.3 

489.6 

612.3 

483.6 

599-5 

487.8 

599-5 

481.8 

587.6 

484.7 

587.6 

478.9 

579-7 

478.7 

586.7 

478.7 

577-6 

473-9 

577-7 

473-9 

575-5 

469-3 

572.8 

469.3 

572.9 

464.8 

570.7 

464.8 

57 1 - 1 

460.4 

569.0 

460.4 

570.4 

440.4 

566.3 

440.4 

570-1 

429-5 

566.4 

429.5 


( b) If all the spectral colors are combined in proper propor¬ 
tions, the result of such a mixture will be a colorless gray. 

(c) Four colors of proper hue, brightness, and saturation — 











SENSORY PROCESSES 


117 

namely, red, green, yellow, and blue — when mixed in proper 
proportions will give a neutral gray. These colors are called 
primary colors. 1 

( d) When two colors which are not complementary are 
mixed in proportions other than those required to produce 
gray, the result will be an intermediate color. For example, 
if a small amount of green is mixed with an equal amount of 
yellow, the mixture will be a very light olive. Red and yellow 
when mixed give orange. If more red than yellow is used, the 
resultant orange will be reddish; if more yellow is used, the 
orange will be yellowish. All colors which are a mixture of 
other colors are called secondary colors. 

2. Color contrast. Every color tends to tinge its surround¬ 
ings with a color essentially its complement. This is true not 
only of hue but of intensity and saturation as well. A 
white object tends to darken the surface immediately contigu¬ 
ous to it, a dark object tends to lighten it. A red surface 
tends to tinge its surroundings a blue-green. In a similar 
fashion, shadows on snow are blue because of the yellow 
in the sunlight. This phenomenon is called simultaneous 
contrast. 

The principles of simultaneous contrast are of special im¬ 
portance in the selection of articles of clothing and in in¬ 
terior decorating. Certain colors clash and others harmonize. 
This principle is also of major importance in the field of ad¬ 
vertising. Much of the appeal of advertisements printed in 
colors depends upon the selection of harmonious color com¬ 
binations. 

Another sort of contrast, not greatly different from simul¬ 
taneous contrast, is illustrated by the change from very bright 
illumination to darkness, or the reverse. In either case the 

1 It is true that yellow may be produced by mixing red and green 
in proper proportions. For this reason some authorities speak of three 
primary colors. Yellow is described by such writers as a secondary 
color. 


n8 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


change is more apparent than it would have been if one ex¬ 
treme degree of brightness had not been immediately preceded 
by another. Like simultaneous contrast, successive contrast, 
as this latter type is called, is found to hold not only for bright¬ 
ness but for complementary hues as well. 

Successive contrast is made use of in the modern electric sign 
which flashes on and off. The contrast effects of these changes 
call attention to the design of the advertisement. 

3. Afterimages. There are two kinds of afterimages: nega¬ 
tive and positive. Gaze steadily at a blue paper for about 
twenty seconds; then look at a neutral background. On its 
surface will appear a definite yellow image. Now gaze at a 
brightly lighted electric bulb for a few seconds, and then turn 
off the switch. Luminous forms of the bulb will be visible 
for a short while. The former experiment illustrates the phe¬ 
nomenon of negative afterimagery and the latter the phenome¬ 
non of positive afterimagery. Negative afterimages are always 
the complement of the inducing color, while positive after¬ 
images have the same hue and brightness as the original 
stimulus. 

Positive afterimagery plays a significant role in motion pic¬ 
tures. The positive image of the first exposure persists long 
enough to form the background for the succeeding picture. 
The new picture fuses into the positive afterimage of the pre¬ 
ceding picture. The slight differences in the two pictures form 
the illusion of movement. 

Negative afterimagery plays a role in the determination of 
theatrical stage effects when these are developed by means of 
lighting and color differences. 

4. Color blindness. Color blin dness is a phe nomenon not 
j/ ejy common in the human race. Only about tfi ree pe rmeant 
of the male population and less tha n one-half of one per ce nt 
of the female population are'T olorTilin d. Red : green color 
blindness is most common. A person handicapped by this 









SENSORY PROCESSES 


119 


disability is not able to distinguish between a red and a 
green light on the basis of the red and green components. He 
is forced to rely on differences in brightness, or some other 
appreciable difference, for his judgment. Blue-yellow 
color blindness is much rarer still. A person blind to blue 
and yellow would also be blind to red and green. His 
world would be made up only of light and dark — a series of 
grays. 

It is apparent that color-blind persons would not be success¬ 
ful in certain types of work. The pilot of a steamer or the 
engineer of a railroad train would make many grave errors if 
he were unable to distinguish between red and green. Since 
the introduction of red-green traffic signals, many automobile 
accidents may be traced to this cause. Interior decorators, 
painters, advertising copy-writers, and many other types of 
workmen would be unable to get along satisfactorily if they 
were color-blind. Similarly, clerks and salesmen working in 
department stores at counters where colored goods are sold or 
clothing is matched would be inefficient. 

One of the commonest methods of detecting color blindness 
and of determining the degree to which it is present is by using 
the Stilling charts. On a background of unevenly drawn blocks 
of its^compTementary color, a red or blue figure is imposed. 
On certain critical charts the color-blind person is totally unable 
to see the figure. A partially color-blind person is able to see 
the figures on only a few of the charts. 

5. Adaptation. The eye is continuously stimulated by light 
or color as long as we are awake and active. During con¬ 
tinuous stimulation the eye becomes adapted to any stimulus. 
When one goes into a dimly lighted room, such as a theatre, 
from a brightly lighted area, at first everything is a blur. 
Gradually, however, objects begin to appear gray and finally 
to become clear. Similarly, in gazing at a color, we become 
adapted. The result of the adaptive process is a less vivid 



120 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


sensation from the light stimulus that is continuously active. 
Another evidence of adaptation is the sharpening of visual 
acuity that occurs when the person who is adjusted to a bright 



Fig. 26. A Perimeter and a Perimeter Record of Retinal 
Color Zones 


The subject’s chin is placed on the chin-rest (A), so that one eye 
is directly above the semicircular top of the rod (B). A small hole at 
the axis (C) serves as a fixation point. The color stimulus is moved 
on a carriage along one circular arm (D) toward or away from the 
center. The arms rotate so that all meridians of the visual field may 
be employed. On the back of the plate (E), which rotates with the 
perimeter arms, is fastened a paper disk, and on it are recorded the 
points along each meridian where the given color appears or disap¬ 
pears. A sample disk is shown at the right indicating areas of the 
visual field sensitive to green, red, blue, yellow, and white or gray, 
respectively. (From Dashiell, Fundamentals of Objective Psychol¬ 
ogy. By permission of Houghton Mifflin Company.) 

light is suddenly placed in an environment where illumination 
is low. 

6. Peripheral vision and retinal color zones. The retina is 
not equally sensitive to color. Move a piece of colored paper 












SENSORY PROCESSES 


12 I 


from the point of direct fixation out to the limits of the field 
of vision and observe the effect. As the movement away from 
the fixation point progresses, the color changes in hue and 
finally appears as gray. The appearance of gray is merely a 
matter of intensity. Only the rods on the periphery of the 
retina were stimulated. Since the paper changed in color, we 
may infer that there are definite color cones located in the 
retina. Apparently a series of super-imposed layers of sensi¬ 
tive cells is present. At the center of the eye, all colors are 
visible. Sensitivity to green seems localized in that area. Sen¬ 
sitivity to red extends over about the same area, blue may be 
experienced farther away from the center, and yellow nearest 
to the periphery. The lines of demarcation separating these 
zones are not regular, and are subject to variation in different 
individuals. A typical pattern of these zones is shown in Fig¬ 
ure 26. Persons who are color-blind to red and green have a 
narrowly restricted area partially sensitive to those colors, and 
even in that area, the organs are inadequately sensitive to red 
and green light. 

There are other factors of vision which are important in 
man’s adaptation to his environment. These for the most part 
have to do with defects in sensory acuity. A man may be 
severely handicapped by the lack of acuity in the rods and 
cones of his eyes. Such a handicap of acuity may extend all 
the way from total blindness to normal vision. There are also 
many defects possible in the functioning of the various refrac¬ 
tive media of the eyes. Too great refraction of light, which 
causes the rays to focus in front of the retina, produces near¬ 
sightedness ; too little refraction of light, which causes the rays 
to reach the retina before coming to a focus, produces far¬ 
sightedness. Inequalities in the curvature of the cornea cause 
astigmatism. 

While they have not received so much consideration by 
the psychologist, nevertheless these and other diseases and 


122 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


defects of the eyes, if serious, may have important effects on 
the person’s adaptation to his environment. 

Theories of Color Vision. There are two prominent theo¬ 
ries of color vision. The older of the two is known as the 
HermgJLhwry. This theory holds that in the rods and cones 
are three distinct kinds of chemical substances. One kind is 
activated by red and green light; another by yellow and blue 
light; and a third by white and black, as well as by all the 
other colors. This chemical activity has two phases. One is 



Fig. 27. Diagram to Illustrate the Ladd-Franklin 
Theory of Color Vision 


(Adapted from Woodworth, Psychology. Henry Holt and Company.) 


a building up, or anabolic phase, the other is a breaking down, 
or katabolic phase. These substances have a zonal distribu¬ 
tion in the retina. The blue-yellow substance is found inter¬ 
mediate between the periphery of the retina and the central 
portion where the red-green substance is located. The black- 
white substance is found in all parts of the retina. This ar¬ 
rangement is consonant with the findings in regard to retinal 
color zones. Blue, green, and black are supposed to be re¬ 
lated to the building up, or anabolic, phase of the chemical 
activity, and yellow, red, and white with the breaking down 
phase. This theory is fairly adequate in its attempt to account 
for the phenomena of color vision. However, some difficulties 
arise in its application. Primary red and green do not give 









SENSORY PROCESSES 


123 


gray, but a grayish yellow when mixed together. Hering’s 
account of the phenomenon of gray — namely, that comple¬ 
mentary colors mix together as a cerebral phenomenon — is 
open to question. 

The Ladd-Franklin Theory of color vision is based on a 
genetic"^oncept. ft supposes that originally the visual organ 
whs sefisitlve only to gray series. At this stage there was no 
differentiation into color sensitivity. In the course of evolu¬ 
tion, the so-called mother substance broke down or became 
differentiated into two components, one sensitive to blue, the 
other to yellow. Later in genetic development the yellow com¬ 
ponent became further differentiated, and sensitivity to red 
and green developed. This theory is adequate at most points 
with the exception of its poor account of the organism’s sen¬ 
sitivity to black. The three stages of development are sche¬ 
matically illustrated in Figure 27. 


XVII. Auditory Sensitivity 

The ear is an apparatus designed to transform sound waves 
into nervous currents. It has mechanisms for enabling us to 
react differentially to tones of various pitch, intensity, and 
quality. It is very poorly equipped to give us knowledge con¬ 
cerning the location or source of a sound, but it enables us to 
judge effectively various sound sequences. It is primarily a 
time receptor. 

The Human Ear. This organ possesses three well-defined 
sections: the outer, the middle, and the inner ears. (See Fig¬ 
ure 28.) 

The outer cartilaginous organ, known as the pinna, or ear 
trumpet, serves in a rather rudimentary way to concentrate the 
sound waves and direct them toward the inner ear through a 
cylindrical canal called the external meatus. The pinna and 
the external meatus constitute the outer ear . 



124 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

The middle ear is a cavity which contains three small bones 
called the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), and stapes (stir¬ 
rup). The malleus is connected at one end to the tympanic 
membrane, which is stretched across the outer end of the mid¬ 
dle ear, and to the incus at the other. The stapes is connected 
to the wall of the oval window of the inner ear at one end and 
to the incus at the other. The incus is suspended from the roof 


f auditory 
nerve 



Cochlea 


r ii /r / \\^\\ Eustachian 

Incus J <fenestra - hrhe 

/ -rnhTnda MIlKiNJ 6 UUC 

Scopes 

Fig. 28. Cross Section of the Ear 


of the middle ear by a tendon, making possible a free swivel 
movement,. It is activated by the displacement of the mal¬ 
leus, which occurs when the ear drum vibrates to the sound 
waves which affect it. These bones are really a system of 
levers which transmit the vibration of the ear drum to the oval- 
window membrane. The middle ear is connected with the 
throat by means of a canal known as the Eustachian tube. 
This connection makes it possible for the cavity to have an air 
pressure approximately equal to the atmospheric pressure at 
the body surface. 









SENSORY PROCESSES 125 

The inner ear is divided into three parts: the vestibule, the 
semicircular canals, and the cochlea. It is the cochlea which 
is chiefly concerned in the auditory processes. 

The cochlea is a cavity winding two and a half turns about 
a central core of bone. It is longitudinally divided by shelves 
which project from the bony core and by certain membranes 
of which we shall speak later. The 
shelves and membranes divide the 
cochlear cavity into three canals: 
the scala vestibuli, the scala tym- 
pani, and the cochlear canal. The 
scala tympani is partially separated 
from the rest of the cochlea by the 
bony shelf and a membranous ex¬ 
tension called the basilar membrane. 

The basilar membrane is made up 
of many fibers which differ in length 
as the membrane passes from the 
lower to the upper extremity of the 
canal. At the lower end, the fibers are short, while at the 
upper end, they are about twelve times as long. 

The scala vestibuli is not so large in area as the scala tym¬ 
pani because another membrane, known as Reissner’s mem¬ 
brane, extends from the upper side of the bony shelf obliquely 
toward the roof of the cochlea, forming the cochlear canal, or 
duct, in conjunction with the basilar membrane. The relation 
of these parts is illustrated in Figure 29. 

One other important set of structures in the ear must be 
mentioned. Directly on the basilar membrane is a system of 
receiving cells called the organ of Corti. The rods of this 
organ form an arch extending across the membrane. They are 
capable of taking up any vibration which sets the fibers of the 
membrane in motion. Distributed to the fibers of the mem¬ 
brane themselves and extending between the rods of Corti are 



Fig. 29. Cross Section 
of the Cochlea 


126 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


the hairlike endings of the auditory nerve which are excited 
by activity of the fibers and rods. 

By means of these structures a sound wave from the outer 
ear is transformed into a neural impulse. When a sound wave 
reaches the trumpet part of the ear, it passes down the ex¬ 
ternal meatus and strikes the ear drum. The ear drum vibrates 
according to the rate and intensity of the stimulus affecting 
it, and its rhythmic movement in turn causes a movement of 
the ossicles of the inner ear. The liquid in the inner ear is set 
in motion by the activity of the membrane at the oval window. 
This movement is carried along the scala vestibuli and the 
cochlear duct and, in passing, causes a stimulation of the 
auditory nerve in the organ of Corti. The scala tympani is 
the canal which carries back the vibrations after they have 
done their work, so to speak. At its lower end this canal is 
enclosed by a membrane covering a tiny opening called the 
round window. This makes possible a transference of the 
stimulation out into the internal meatus, rather than a reflec¬ 
tion of it back into the vestibule proper. 

This description of the function of the organs of the ear is 
based on the principle of sympathetic resonance which Helm¬ 
holtz, a German physicist, developed. Other theories of hearing 
have been advanced. Max Meyer holds to a hydraulic theory. 
Another theory, known as the telephone theory, is based 
on the fact that the membrane behaves like the diaphragm of 
a telephone receiver. Data are inadequate to evaluate prop¬ 
erly any of these theories. Suffice it to say that the Helmholtz 
theory, in spite of its difficulties, is commonly accepted. 

The Physical Basis for Sound. A sound wave is a longi¬ 
tudinal wave. When any vibrating object strikes the air par¬ 
ticles surrounding it, they are pushed together and then re¬ 
bound from one another, producing alternate conditions of 
condensation and rarefaction. When sound waves strike upon 
the sensitive receiving mechanism of the ear, the process of 


SENSORY PROCESSES 


127 


hearing begins. If the alternate condensation and rarefaction 
set up in the air by a vibrating body equal or exceed 16 to 20 
per second, the ear is stimulated. This is the lowest rate of 
vibration to which the ear is responsive. When the rate ex¬ 
ceeds 30,000 to 35,000, the ear is not tonally affected. Be¬ 
tween these two limits it is possible for the average human 
being to discriminate about 11,000 different pitches. It is 
well to remember that there are marked differences among in¬ 
dividuals in their ability to make pitch discriminations. 

Some Auditory Phenomena. Sounds are of two kinds, 
tones and noises. When the sound waves occur in regular suc¬ 
cession for some time, they produce tones; when they are 
irregular or occur only for a small fraction of a second, they 
produce noises. 

A pure tone is one caused by a succession of waves having 
the same vibration rate. It may vary in two important ways: 
in loudness, or intensity, and in pitch. Its form is simple. We 
rarely get pure tones except under controlled conditions in 
which special instruments are used, such as a tuning fork. 

Ordinarily tones are complex; that is, they possess a certain 
fundamental character plus accompanying overtones. For in¬ 
stance, a violin string produces a complex tone because it 
vibrates not only as a whole, but also in parts; so does the wire 
string on a piano. Suppose the same pitch is struck on both 
of these instruments. The pitch will be the same, but the 
character of the tones will be different. This difference is due 
to the character of the overtones. 

If two tones having nearly the same vibration rate are simul¬ 
taneously produced, a definite beat will be set up between them. 
The number of. beats per second will equal the difference in 
rate of vibration between the two tones. If that difference 
becomes great enough — that is, greater than about 16 vibra¬ 
tions — a third tone, known as the difference tone, may be heard. 
Under certain conditions there may be heard a tone having a 


128 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


rate of vibration equal to the sum of the two vibration rates 
of the tones. This is called a summation tone. It is difficult 
for the untrained person to hear either of these tones. They 
do not seem to be purely physical facts explicable in terms of 
the physical effect upon the air particles; rather they seem to 
be due to certain physiological processes within the ear itself. 
They are, therefore, sometimes called subjective tones . 

These forms of auditory phenomena are found in various 
combinations, giving a quality and a richness to our tonal ex¬ 
perience that we would not otherwise have. Man has de¬ 
veloped his control over tonal phenomena in the form of music 
and, in the whole psychology of sound, no more important 
and difficult problems have arisen than those relating to the 
nature of consonance and dissonance. Some tonal patterns are 
made up of components that are distinctly pleasing, or con¬ 
sonant; others are rather unpleasant to hear, or dissonant. The 
selection of tones for musical purposes is determined by the 
consonantal relationship they have to each other. The musical 
scale is based primarily upon the fact that any tone the vibra¬ 
tion rate of which is twice that of another will blend pleasingly 
with it. Two tones bearing this relationship to each other form 
an octave. The octave has been divided into seven steps not 
all of equal length. The tonal combinations in some of these 
steps are aesthetically pleasing, while others have little or no 
harmonic relationship. 

Importance of Sound. Sound, of great importance in the 
life of all higher animals, is especially so in man. Spoken 
language depends upon tone production. While gesture and 
grimaces no doubt were the original means of communication, 
the voice is now its chief means. Man would be a very dif¬ 
ferent animal if he did not have his auditory sense. Social de¬ 
velopment probably depends upon this sense more than upon 
any other. 

Sound has also had a large place in the aesthetic develop- 


SENSORY PROCESSES 


129 


ment of the race. The forms of music are varied, but, the funda¬ 
mental basis of all music is found in tones and the relations be¬ 
tween them. 

With the increased use of machines, the effect of noise upon 
human welfare has become an important problem. Noises vary 
from the steady hum of a motor to the screeching of whistles, 
the grinding of brakes, and the crash of metal upon metal. 
We do not know the effects of such noises upon the physical 
and emotional welfare of man. There is some experimental 
evidence to indicate that loud noises of high pitch tend to dis¬ 
integrate body tissue. Other types of noises may produce 
harmful effects through association. At present the National 
Safety Council is making a thorough study of noises and their 
harmful effects. Engineers tell us that harmful noises can be 
eliminated, but only at great cost. Before any steps toward 
the elimination of noises are taken, we must discover which are 
the harmful ones. 


XVIII. Cutaneous Sensitivity 

Cutaneous sensitivity as we experience it in ordinary life 
is the result of complex combinations of stimulations imping¬ 
ing upon various sense organs in the skin. The components 
of these combinations may be discovered by exploring a por¬ 
tion of the skin with different stimuli. 

Receptors. The skin is like a mosaic pattern containing at 
least four different types of end-organs. There are highly ar¬ 
borized, free, unsheathed nerve endings which are specialized 
to respond to intense mechanical or thermal stimulation. These 
are the receptors for pain. Fine nerve endings encircling the 
roots of the hair, and, on the hairless parts of the body, the 
Meissner corpuscles (a mass of nerve endings enclosed in a deli¬ 
cate membranous tissue) are the receptors for pressure. It is 
thought that the end bulb of Krause is the cold receptor and 


130 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 



Fig. 30. Typical Cutaneous Receptors 
(See footnote on opposite page for explanation.) 



























SENSORY PROCESSES 


131 

the Ruffini corpuscle, the warmth receptor. These various end- 
organs in the skin are shown in diagrammatic form in Figure 30. 

Experimenters have estimated that there are from two mil¬ 
lion to four million pain spots on the body, about five hundred 
thousand each of cold and touch, and about thirty thousand 
warm spots. This does not mean that every tiny part of the 
body contains sensitive end-organs. If one were to explore a 
square inch of skin on the arm, he would discover spaces which 
did not respond to stimulation of any kind. There are other 
points which respond to one type of stimulus but not to others. 

Physical Basis of Cutaneous Sensitivity. All stimuli, 
when presented at a certain intensity, stimulate the pain re¬ 
ceptors. Certain conditions govern this reaction. Temperature 
below 12 degrees centigrade and above 50 degrees will stimulate 
the pain receptors. Sudden heat will cause pain, but the same 
temperature gradually attained will not. Certain visceral pains 
are caused by chemical action, others by pressure. Sometimes 
slow pressure will cause pain receptors to respond, whereas 
rapid pressure, as in a knife thrust, causes no response from 
these receptors. Temperatures between 12 degrees and 28 de¬ 
grees centigrade activate the cold receptors; below 12 degrees 
both cold and pain are activated. From temperatures varying 
between 28 and 45 degrees come stimulating conditions which 
activate warmth receptors. Beyond that point, warmth and 

Explanation of Figure 30. 

F, free nerve endings, formed by fibers that have lost their sheaths 
(pain receptors) ; M, Meissner corpuscle ( pressure receptors) ; K, Krause 
end bulb ( cold (?) receptors ); H, nerve endings about hair follicle 
(pressure receptors ); R, Ruffini corpuscle (warmth (?) receptors ); P, 
Pacinian corpuscle (deep pressure receptors). For convenience the re¬ 
ceptors are not represented in true relative sizes. All are actually much 
smaller in comparison with the depth of skin layers; some (Meissner 
and Krause) are actually much smaller in ratio to other receptors shown, 
while one (Pacinian) is actually much larger. They are shown more 
closely grouped than is probably ever the case. (From Dashiell, Funda¬ 
mentals of Objective Psychology. By permission of Houghton Mifflin Co.) 



132 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


pain are activated, producing a response of burning heat. 
Mechanical stimulation, varying from very light to relatively 
great intensity, brings a response from the pressure receptors. 

Cutaneous Phenomena. As a rule, a large number of cuta¬ 
neous receptors are stimulated at once. Usually it is only un¬ 
der controlled conditions in the laboratory that a single sense 
organ in the skin is isolated and stimulated. Pressure, warmth, 
cold, and pain are usually active in combination. As a result, 
we have such responses as smoothness, roughness, tickle, hot¬ 
ness— all due to combinations of cutaneous sensitivity. 

Pressure, warmth, and cold show certain adaptive effects. 
Water that at first is uncomfortably warm gradually becomes 
satisfactory for bathing purposes. The warmth spots have 
been active, but adaptation has taken place. The same phe¬ 
nomenon occurs with pressure and cold. Pain however does not 
show the same effects of adaptation that other types of cuta¬ 
neous sensitivity do. Under emotional stress and strain pain 
may not be as effective in inhibiting activity as at other times, 
but there is little evidence to support the idea that prolonged 
stimulation of pain receptors produces a progressively less in¬ 
tense response on the part of the organism. 

The cutaneous senses give the child much of his intimate 
knowledge of the world about him. The child continually tries 
to touch and handle objects. It is by this method that he 
learns many of their most significant qualities. This is less true 
of the adult. Once he has learned these intimate facts about 
objects, he uses his distance receptors more. Vision and hear¬ 
ing play a more important role in the life of the adult. 


XIX. Gustatory Sensitivity 

All tastes may be classified into four fundamental groups: 
sweet, salt, bitter, and sour. In a general way specific recep¬ 
tors for each of these may be found located at different points 


SENSORY PROCESSES 


133 


on the tongue. Many of the experiences which we regard as 
taste experiences are in reality based on a stimulation of the 
olfactory end-organs. 

The End-Organs for Taste. These organs are to be found 
on the sides of the foliate, the fungiform, and the circumvallate 
papillae on the tongue. These papillae are really folds of skin 
on the surface of the tongue. The sense endings proper are 



Fig. 31. Sense Organs of Taste 

A, map of the upper surface of the tongue showing on the 
left the different kinds of papillae and on the right the areas 

of taste. (After Hall) Area sensitive to bitter (-) ; 

to acid (_); to salt to sweet (-). 

B, section through a papilla showing nerves connecting with 
taste buds. C, single taste bud magnified: n, nerve, the 
fibers of which terminate between the spindle-shaped 
cells, a. 

specialized cells located in the taste buds, or beakers, which are 
arranged along the side of the depression made by the papillae. 
(See Figure 31.) A taste bud is a group of nerve endings with 
certain supporting cells. As the papillae are scattered rather 
widely over the tongue, we find the receptors differentiated for 
gustatory sensitivity on almost every part of the tongue. In 
childhood some are also embedded in the soft palate and the 
linings of the pharynx. 






GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


134 

Taste buds are stimulated by certain chemicals in solution. 
Some react to sweet substances; others to sour, salt, or bitter 
substances. Those buds sensitive to sweet are found in great¬ 
est number on the front area of the tongue. Those sensitive 
to sour substances are found on the sides of the tongue. Bitter 
substances excite the end-organs at the back of the tongue most 
effectively. Salty substances activate end-organs spread gen¬ 
erally over the tongue. In many papillae, several taste buds, 
differing in sensitiveness to various kinds of substances, may 
be found. If a little alum is placed on the tip of the tongue, 
it tastes sweet. Placed on the back of the tongue, it tastes 
bitter. 


XX. Olfactory Sensitivity 

Olfactory sensitivity, very useful to some of the lower ani¬ 
mals, is not so important in civilized man as are the higher 
senses. Odors are hard to classify because they are very com¬ 
plex. Since they depend on very small particles of odoriferous 
substance, our adaptation to them is extremely rapid. 

The End-Organs for Smell. At the upper end of the nasal 
cavity there is a sensitive membrane, having an extent of about 
250 sq. mm. in each nasal chamber, in which are embedded the 
sensory cells differentiated to respond to chemical stimulation 
in gaseous form. (See Figure 32.) These receptors are very 
simple in structure. They are true nerve cells with tiny hair¬ 
like cilia on their surfaces. These cilia, when affected by chemi¬ 
cal particles, activate the sensory nerve directly. Because it 
is difficult to investigate the area, we do not know whether 
there are specialized organs present or not. Smell does not 
lend itself to classification as taste and vision do. The classi¬ 
fication of odors to which man responds is a most difficult task. 
Zwaardemaker, Henning, and others have proposed certain 
groupings. Until more complete and controlled experimenta- 


SENSORY PROCESSES 


135 


tion has been made, any classification must necessarily be 
tentative. Henning’s classification is as follows: 

Fruity Odors, such as are found in apples, grapes, oranges, etc. 

Flowery Odors, found in pansies, carnations, etc. 

Spicy Odors, found in cinnamon, cloves, etc. 

Resinous Odors, found in pitch, balsam, turpentine, etc. 

Smoky Odors, found in burnt substances, tar, etc. 

Putrid Odors, found in decaying matter, asafoetida, Limburger 
cheese, etc. 

Naturally, this list is not adequate since there are many odors 
which cannot be classified in any of these groups. 

Gustatory and Olfactory Phenomena. Taste and smell 
are closely related. They seem to reenforce each other in their 
effects on the individual. Coffee has a pleasant odor and a 
bitter taste. Under conditions where olfactory acuity is re¬ 
duced, as by a cold in the head, coffee is not very enjoyable. 
Adaptation is very rapid in both taste and smell. For example, 
if you stimulate the end-organs with camphor, the intensity of 
the stimulation will rapidly subside until you are incapable of 
smelling the odor at all. This may make you more sensitive 
to another odor, but smell exhaustion takes place always when 
a stimulus is applied for some time. This is why many per¬ 
sons, upon entering a paint store or a tannery, wonder how the 
workers can stand the smell. The fact is they have become 
adapted and notice the odor only upon returning after an ex¬ 
tended stay in the open air. 

The close relationship existing between taste and smell has a 
definite basis. Biologically, next to the tactual sensitivity of 
the organism, smell is considered the most primitive sense. In 
lower organisms, it was the most important sensory process. 
When the eye began to achieve a more adequate differentiation, 
smell began to play a minor role in sensory adjustment. In 
man, taste and smell still stand guard over the substances to 


136 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


which the organism is responsive and which it may assimilate. 
Foul air is not healthful. Awareness of it brings about a 
change in condition. Of course there are times when our judg¬ 
ment leads us to modify what would be the expected response 



Fig. 32. Diagram of the Olfactory Organ and its Neural 
Connections 

C, a layer of olfactory spindles with their hairlike projections just 
above the surface of the lining of the nasal cavity. At B the nerves 
connecting with the olfactory spindles pass upward toward A on their 
way to the brain. (From Barker, The Nervous System. D. Appleton 
and Company.) 

to a sense organ. Bitter medicine is hard to take, but we over¬ 
come a natural distaste because of other ends more desirable 
than immediate pleasant sensory experience. Thus we get be¬ 
yond the biological level of survival. 























SENSORY PROCESSES 


137 


XXI. Other Forms of Sensitivity 

Other forms of sensitivity are kinaesthetic, static, and or¬ 
ganic. Although these forms do not enter into our higher 
intellectual processes to the extent that vision and hearing do, 
and although they do not play so important a role in our social 
adjustments as cutaneous, gustatory, and olfactory sensations 
do, nevertheless they influence our adjustment to our environ¬ 
ment in several important ways. For that reason, they should 
not be neglected in our study of sensory activity. 

Kinaesthetic Sensitivity. The muscles, tendons, and joints 
of the body are supplied with certain nerve endings which con¬ 
stitute the receptors that are aroused by the movement of any 
of these structures. It is essential that the muscular and 
skeletal adjustments of the organism be coordinated and bal¬ 
anced. This is achieved by the relationship existing between 
the sensory impulses derived through the excitation of the 
kinaesthetic endings and of certain motor impulses distributed 
back to the musculature of the body. Most of us are aware of 
the relative position of arm or limb at any moment, although 
we may make little conscious use of that awareness. If atten¬ 
tion were necessary to maintain any given muscular position, 
it would constitute a great handicap to our ordinary activity. 
The mother who had continually to attend to the position of 
her arm while holding her child would run great risk of seri¬ 
ously injuring the child, should excitement or other conditions 
draw her attention from the arm. Normally, walking is largely 
unconscious, because each successive muscular contraction acts 
as a stimulus to other muscular contractions, owing to the 
presence of kinaesthetic sensitivity. We balance ourselves, con¬ 
trol our movements, and integrate behavior patterns into co¬ 
ordinated wholes through this sensitivity, which comes from the 
stimulation of end-organs located in the muscles and tendons. 


138 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


All our movements, therefore, are dependent upon kinaes- 
thetic sensations for guidance and control. While other types 
of receptors receive the stimulation that produces movement, 
the control of the form of movement and its adaptation to skilled 
acts are dependent upon kinaesthetic control. The pitching of 
a baseball, the hitting of a golf ball, the guiding of an auto¬ 
mobile, and the control of a lathe or drill press are controlled 
indirectly by kinaesthesis. It is true that vision and the tactual 


sense play a large part, and the 
loss of any one form of these con¬ 
trols would result in a great de¬ 
crease in voluntary control. By 
training, however, one sense could 
probably be substituted for another 
— such as touch for vision — but 
the kinaesthetic sense could be dis¬ 
pensed with least easily. From those 
relatively few cases in which this 
sense is temporarily disturbed by 
pathological conditions, we get some 
idea of its importance in life ad¬ 
justments. 

Static Sensitivity. When we 
were discussing the ear, we men¬ 
tioned the fact that the inner ear 
contained the semicircular canals, 
as well as the vestibule and the cochlea. The semicircular 
canals and vestibule are not connected with hearing, but they 
do function in aiding us to keep our balance. 

The semicircular canals are hollow tubes filled with liquid 
distributed in three planes. Hairlike endings of a division of 
the eighth cranial nerve extend into the base of these canals 
where they join the vestibule. Any movement of the body 
causes a change in the pressure of the liquid in these canals 



circular Canals Show¬ 
ing their Relative 
Position to Each Other 











SENSORY PROCESSES 


139 


and thereby stimulates the receptors. The action of these 
canals can be understood by reference to Figure 33. The com¬ 
pensatory movements of the body which bring about a new 
balance after movement are reflexly conditioned. The effort to 
readjust the body after even slight disturbance is essential if 
equilibrium is to be maintained. 

If injury occurs to these canals or disease retards their func¬ 
tioning or malformation of the inner ear inhibits proper de¬ 
velopment, marked defects in orientation of the body are no¬ 
ticed. Excessive stimulation of the semicircular canals by 
whirling or spinning creates a condition in which equilibrium is 
temporarily lost. The compensatory movements carried on by 
the individual to negate the loss of static orientation are in¬ 
teresting. If a person is placed in a rotating chair, it will be 
observed that as long as the rate of acceleration is increasing, 
the person will show alternating movements of his eyeballs; 
that is, there will be a jerky movement in the forward direction. 
Certain muscles slightly twist the trunk and there is apparent 
activity in the legs in the form of lateral straining. When the 
speed of rotation becomes constant, there is a retardation of 
trunk and leg movements and the eyeballs cease their activity. 
Then when the speed of rotation is decreased, the reverse eye 
movements are noted, and trunk and leg muscles twist and 
strain in the opposite direction. 

When the excitation of the sensory endings in the canals 
becomes extreme, certain visceral discomfort is experienced 
and dizziness occurs. There are many investigators who sug¬ 
gest that the semicircular canals also function in maintaining 
bodily tonus. 

Organic Sensitivity. There is a complex of sensory proc¬ 
esses which results in what is known as organic sensitivity. 
Hunger, thirst, nausea, suffocation, and certain other visceral 
disturbances coming from the lower bladder, rectum, and sex 
organs are identified in this group. Owing to the fact that ex- 


140 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


perimentation in this field has been very limited and the sensory 
mechanisms involved are so difficult to isolate, our knowledge 
of organic sensitivity is very meager. Hunger appears to 
be identified with the muscular contractions of the walls 
of the empty stomach. Thirst seems to be due to irritation 
of certain mucous linings of the throat. More complete 
discussion of organic sensitivity awaits further experimental 
work. 

Differential Sensitivity and Adjustment. From this dis¬ 
cussion it should be clear that sense organs are the gateways 
through which man meets his world and comes to know what 
it demands of him in the way of adjustments. Without normal 
vision the worker is handicapped and his efficiency is decreased. 
The eye must guide the hand and function as an adequate 
means of control in many skilled acts. Industrial hazards be¬ 
come greater when the person at work cannot hear. Even 
crossing a street in a busy city or driving a car in a crowded 
street becomes a difficult task when either hearing or vision is 
impaired. While we are more aware of the importance of vis¬ 
ual and auditory sensitivity than we are of many other types of 
sensory activity, the importance of these latter processes can¬ 
not be overlooked. Kinaesthetic sensitivity, as we have just 
pointed out, is the basis for the control of parts of the body 
in relation to other parts. The skilled movements involved in 
many types of industrial relations are maintained in their sig¬ 
nificant patterns by means of the kinaesthetic function. In fact 
there is scarcely a single sensory capacity possessed by man 
which does not contribute in some way to his success or 
failure in life. The normal functioning of end-organs with its 
accompanying adequate sensitivity is the basis for satis¬ 
factory adjustment. The color-blind engineer or the deaf 
telegraph-operator is an anomaly; so is a singer without 
adequate pitch discrimination or a tea-taster without highly 
sensitized taste buds. In business and industry, as well 


SENSORY PROCESSES 


141 


as in the arts, normal sensitivity is the basis for successful 
adjustment. 

Summary. Throughout this chapter we have been study¬ 
ing sensory activity. It is important to remember that every 
end-organ, no matter how specialized, has a definite relation¬ 
ship to the organism as a whole. The constant influx of sensory 
impulses to the cord or brain involves a constant efflux of motor 
impulses to the muscles and glands of the body. The world 
to which the organism adjusts, both externally and internally, 
is complex and continuous. Very rarely is a living organism en¬ 
tirely out of contact with it. Indeed, living, in the biological 
sense, is the process of continual adjusting required of an or¬ 
ganism in order to maintain a nice balance between itself and 
its environment. We noted that there are no specialized end- 
organs in the amoeba; consequently there is no division of 
labor. In man there are many specialized sense organs and 
many specialized muscles and glands. The tasks involved in 
adjustment are divided among them; yet all must work to¬ 
gether if survival is to be maintained. The eye and the ear 
assist each other. Taste and smell, temperature and pressure 
combine to enrich and make more effective the sensory ad¬ 
justments made possible through their particular type of spe¬ 
cialization. 

All that the receptors do is to bring first-hand impressions of 
the environment to the organism. The further task of adjust¬ 
ing, in the light of environmental need, remains. In subsequent 
chapters, we shall discover the way in which relationships be¬ 
tween the organism and its environment are maintained and 
made more effective. This is a problem of the elaboration 
of behavior upon the basis of primary sensory adjustments 
on the one hand and simple muscular adjustments on the 
other hand. 


142 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Selected References 

Dashiell, J. F., Fundamentals of Objective Psychology, Chapter V. 
Houghton Mifflin, 1928. 

Gault, R. H., and Howard, D. T., Outline of General Psychology, 
Chapter V. Longmans, 1925. 

Warren, H. C., Human Psychology, Chapters IX-X. Houghton 
Mifflin, 1919. 


CHAPTER V 


ATTENTION 

XXII. Essential Characteristics of Attention 

The attentive processes are intimately involved in very 
many practical problems of life. On this account we are war¬ 
ranted in studying the nature of these processes. We shall 
find that attention continually fluctuates, that its focus shifts 
from one point to another, that only a few objects can be at¬ 
tended to at one time, but that, in spite of this narrowness of 
range and these fluctuations, we are continually attending to 
something. 

Problems Involved in Attention. Every person is vitally 
concerned with the phenomena of attention. We set ourselves 
to some task and find our mind wandering to a foreign subject 
in spite of our apparent efforts to concentrate upon the assigned 
task. We start to read a book only to find ourselves becoming 
drowsy; perhaps we are eventually overtaken by sleep. How 
can we control our attention so as to hold to our assigned task, 
shut out irrelevant thoughts, and keep from going to sleep? 

The experienced dentist can keep his patient from thinking 
too insistently about the unpleasant drilling in his tooth. The 
sleight-of-hand performer owes his success to his ability to get 
the attention of his audience upon one act while he performs 
another. The success of the advertiser depends largly upon 
his ability to present advertisements which attract the attention 
of the public. The task of the speaker, be he lawyer, preacher, 
politician, or pedagogue, is to keep the attention of his auditors 
upon what he is saying. Furthermore, a person who deals with 


143 


144 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


others must understand the objective signs of attention, so that 
he can tell whether his auditors are attending to him. The day 
is past when a speaker can read his message from a manuscript 
with apparent unconcern as to whether his audience is listen¬ 
ing or sleeping. The modern audience will not listen to a 
speaker who cannot hold its attention, the reader will not read 
a book which will not keep him interested, a salesman cannot 
sell if he cannot hold the attention of the prospective buyer 
long enough to convince him of the merits of the product, and 
even the speaker over the radio will be tuned out if he cannot 
keep his audience interested. Whatever our position in life, 
we are all vitally concerned with the activity of both our own 
attentive processes and those of others. 

Attention Is Always Occupied. There is no time in a per¬ 
son’s waking life when he is not attending to something. When 
we say a person is inattentive, we do not mean that he is at¬ 
tending to nothing, but that he is not attending to the thing 
that we should like. If a person sits and looks at us with a 
vacant stare while we talk, apparently not hearing a word we 
utter, it is not because his mind is a blank, but because he is 
thinking of other things. He may be thinking of his latest, 
love affair, or he may be making plans for the future, or he may 
be wishing we would not bother him, but in any case he is think¬ 
ing of something. 

There are times when a person may apparently go into a 
reverie and be lost to all around him. When he comes “ back to 
life,” he may claim that he was not thinking of a thing, that 
his mind was blank; but investigations have shown that in 
such periods of “ absence ” there are mental processes at work, 
often of very vital importance to the individual. 

This indicates that the question, “ How can I increase my 
ability to attend? ” is equivalent to the question, “ How can I 
keep awake? ” So long as we are awake, we are attending to 
something. There are varying degrees of alertness, and some 


ATTENTION 


145 


persons go through life half asleep because existence is to them 
a succession of drab events none of which has sufficient signifi¬ 
cance to make them attend. If life is filled with striking experi¬ 
ences, we have no trouble in keeping awake. The development 
of attention, as we shall learn, is centered almost exclusively 
around the problem of how to direct the attention to a series of 
objects or thought processes which are of enough vital signifi¬ 
cance to keep one alert. The development of attention is, in 
short, the development of ability to control the movements of 
attention. 

Nature of Attention. At any one moment of our waking 
life we may find that some things are very vivid to us while 
others, although we are aware of them, are not so clear. Yet 
there is evidence to prove that we may be influenced by sen¬ 
sory impressions of which we are totally unaware. We may 
sometimes think that we are selecting at each moment one 
single item of experience and responding to it, but careful in¬ 
vestigation shows that our conduct is determined not by one 
item alone but by the entire combination of elements which 
make up the total situation. 

In this mass of impulses which are present at any one mo¬ 
ment, there are often contradictory elements. If all the oppos¬ 
ing elements were evenly balanced, they would neutralize each 
other, so that we would be in a state of equilibrium and no re¬ 
action would occur. Such a situation seldom, if ever, exists. 
At one moment one element is dominant, and at another mo¬ 
ment, some other element is. Our activity seems to be de¬ 
termined largely by the stimulus which is dominant in the 
group of active stimuli at the moment. This momentarily 
dominant stimulus, the one which controls to a large extent our 
response, is the one to which we attend. Attention means that 
one element plays a dominant role in our behavior. To say 
that we are attending to a stimulus, whether to an external 
stimulus or to an internal ideational process, is simply to say 


146 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


that we are reacting to it more strongly than to other stimuli 
operating at the same time. This should make clear that at¬ 
tention is simply a name for a process, the process by means 
of which some element, or small group of elements, becomes 
selected from the mass of stimuli and controls, for the moment, 
our behavior. 

Furthermore, we must keep in mind that the relative force 
of the various stimuli playing upon us is constantly changing. 
Noises, lights, tactile impressions, and internal stimulations 
are all playing upon our organism with varying degrees 
of force; all are in contest for the complete control of our 
reactions. 

In addition to the changing character of competing stimuli 
another factor which may determine the nature of the reaction 
we shall make is the readiness of the organism to respond in 
any one manner. We may be set to see a ghost as we walk 
by the cemetery, to hear a burglar when we sit alone in the 
house at night, to see printed characters when we open the 
pages of a book, or to feel the cold wind when we step out of 
the door. We may apparently be listening to a lecture, but in 
reality the mind may be so set to brood over a recent bereave¬ 
ment that the slightest suggestion upon the part of the speaker 
will divert our attention into a chain of reverie about our 
troubles. That is, our attention wanders from the speech 
because our nervous system is set to think about our 
troubles. 

Attention Continually Fluctuates. A very important 
characteristic of attention is that it continually fluctuates. We 
cannot keep our attention on one specific item of experience for 
a long time. If the reader is skeptical about this statement, 
let him make a dot on a piece of paper and attempt to keep his 
attention centered on it for a considerable period. He is sure 
to find it impossible. He will find himself thinking of other 
things — what kind of paper it is, how long he has been look- 


ATTENTION 


147 


ing, whether this experiment really proves anything, what good 
is psychology if one cannot fix his attention on a thing, and a 
host of other ideas. 

This does not mean that the same idea cannot keep recurring. 
In some instances we try to prevent some thought from domi¬ 
nating our attention but it insistently comes back again. 
Analysis will show that it does not stay there, but it is no 
sooner displaced by another thought than it again gains the 
ascendency. 

If we permit ourselves to attend to various details connected 
with one general subject, our attention is fluctuating, but at 
the same time it is fixed on the general subject. Far from be¬ 
ing a disadvantage, the fluctuations of attention are a decided 
advantage to us. Instead of fixing our attention on a minute 
detail in a manner that would lead to sure stagnation, we grasp 
one detail, and then shift to another related detail, and again 
to another. On this account the fluctuations of attention are 
an essential element in the process of making our adjustments. 
They make possible continually changing reactions in harmony 
with the changing situations operative around and within us. 
We should never attempt to stop the fluctuations of attention; 
rather, we should learn the laws of fluctuation and thus direct 
the shifts. 

Meaning Facilitates Attention. Experiences have mean¬ 
ing only in so far as we are familiar with their details. It is 
the shifting character of. attention which makes possible the 
investigation of these details. When a person says that he can¬ 
not keep his attention on a thing, it indicates that he needs to 
get more intimately acquainted with the subject rather than 
to control his attention. The printed page cannot long hold 
the attention of one who cannot read, but let the details of that 
reading matter be known, and he has little trouble in following 
the type. 

In order to control your attention, learn the meaning of the 


I4 8 general psychology 

experience you encounter and the shifts of attention will follow 

this meaning. 

Rapidity of Shifts of Attention. Many experiments have 
been performed in the attempt to determine the rapidity with 
which attention shifts. The results are not at all conclusive. 
In some instances the shifts occur every few seconds, while in 
others they occur as far apart as a minute. Most, of these ex¬ 
periments have been concerned with the shifts of very faint 
sensory impressions. 

One such experiment that may be easily performed is as 
follows: Get far enough away from a watch to make the tick¬ 
ing barely audible. If you listen intently, you will find that at 
intervals the ticking becomes inaudible. A similar experiment 
is to look intently at a faint gray line. The line will periodi¬ 
cally appear and disappear. 

Various attempts have been made to explain these sensory 
shifts in relation to some bodily rhythm such as the breathing, 
the heartbeat, or the like, but it has been found that they do 
not correspond to any definite physiological rhythm. They 
may be somewhat different from the shifts of ideas about which 
we have been talking, but evidence seems to point to the fact 
that they are of the same general nature. 

Span of Attention. The question has been asked, “ How 
broad in scope is attention? ” An interesting method of an¬ 
swering this question has been devised by psychologists. It 
consists essentially of exposing to the senses for a fraction of a 
second a varying number of objects and determining how many 
of them the subject can perceive during the brief exposure. 

In the field of vision an instrument called the tachistoscope 
is used for this purpose. It has a shutter which opens and ex¬ 
poses for about a quarter of a second the material placed behind 
it. It has been found that as many as five separate impressions 
(points, lines, numbers, or letters) can be distinguished when 
they are thus exposed. When more than five are exposed, there 


ATTENTION 


149 


is likely to be confusion and the subject will make errors in 
reporting the number seen. 

While the span of attention is limited to about five discrete 
objects, it may be indefinitely increased by arranging the ma¬ 
terial in a meaningful manner. For example, if we should ex¬ 
pose the letters I A H C G O C, it is quite likely that a single 
exposure would be insufficient for us to perceive all of them. 
Should we arrange them so as to give them meaning, as 
C H I C A G O, we could all grasp them on the first exposure. 
If the subject were illiterate, it is quite unlikely that he could 
grasp even three of the letters, such as I A H, because each of 
the letters itself is complex and these three alone contain seven 
distinct lines. 

When more material is given than can be perceived, it can 
be only vaguely described by the observer. From this we may 
draw the general conclusion that when more items are presented 
to view than the span of attention can accommodate, they are 
either vaguely seen as an indistinct experience or they are com¬ 
prehended as a meaningful whole. Consequently, the way to 
increase the span of attention is to give material meaning. 

There is a practical application of this principle in the field 
of advertising. A headline containing more than five words 
has been found to confuse rather than attract the attention of 
the reader. The same principle holds in the number of items 
in the advertisement. Most good advertising contains only a 
few major points but calls attention to these in a decisive way. 

The span of attention in other senses than vision is not so 
easy to determine. It is very difficult for a person to dis¬ 
tinguish the components of a tonal blend. In most cases one 
of the tones stands out dominantly and the others appear to 
change its quality. It is easier to distinguish successive tones 
than simultaneous ones. For example, it has been found that 
if a metronome is sounded at the rate of a beat every quarter 
of a second, eight successive taps can be distinguished without 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


ISO 

counting. This, however, is probably a measure of immediate 
memory span rather than a measure of the span of attention. 

From these facts it follows that the man who learns to use 
his senses to the best advantage does so not by increasing the 
span of attention, not by increasing the number of discrete 
objects he can distinguish at any one time, but by training 
himself to give meaning to the different impressions. 


XXIII. Determinants of Attention 

By attention we mean that certain elements of our experi¬ 
ence are dominant in consciousness. We have seen that it is 
the result of competing elements, and that this competition re¬ 
sults in a continual change in the element which is dominant. 
The question now arises as to what factors determine which 
elements shall gain the ascendency. 

There are conditions within the individual himself which de¬ 
termine to which things he shall attend; these we shall call the 
subjective determinants of attention. There are other factors 
which relate more to the stimuli which impinge upon his sense 
organs; these we shall call the objective determinants. In 
isolating and studying the various determinants, we must re¬ 
member that in actual life they do not function separately but 
always in very intricate combinations. We isolate them for 
purposes of exposition only. 

The advertiser, or any one who does not have direct access 
to his audience, finds the objective determinants of attention 
of prime importance since he cannot control the subjective 
factors of those who read. He can, of course, make use of any 
general subjective factors, but he cannot make individual ap¬ 
plication of them. On the other hand one who can speak di¬ 
rectly to a person can make use of the subjective factors to 
greater advantage than the objective factors. An orator can 


ATTENTION 


i5i 

lead his audience up to a point where it will be receptive to 
his message, the sleight-of-hand performer can prepare his audi¬ 
ence for his tricks, and the salesman can center the interest of 
his prospect on the goods to be sold. The value of any par¬ 
ticular determinant must depend somewhat upon the purpose 
involved as well as upon the general setting. 

Objective Determinants of Attention. 1. An intense 
stimulus gains attention. Other things being equal, an in¬ 
tense stimulus will attract the attention more effectively than 
a weak one. A loud sound, a bright color, a pungent odor, and 
a -sharp pain all arouse and hold the attention better than 
milder stimuli of the same sort. The operation of this prin¬ 
ciple of intensity is not so simple, however, as it may seem to be 
at first glance. If a loud sound had only to compete with a 
fainter sound of the same quality, if a bright light had only 
to compete with a fainter light, and similarly with the other 
stimuli, the application would be simple. In reality, however, 
when a sound stimulus is given, it usually has to compete not 
only with other sounds of the same or different quality, but also 
with sights, tastes, odors, pains, and a vast number of other 
stimuli of all degrees of complexity. We have no way of com¬ 
paring the intensity of a light with the intensity of a sound or an 
odor. Even if we could give equivalents in terms of physical 
energy, the comparison would not be accurate, for our organism 
might be better equipped to respond to one type of sensory 
stimulus than to another. 

2. The quality of the stimulus affects attention. Experi¬ 
ments have shown that yellow is a better “ attention-getter ” 
than other colors of equal physical intensity; that is, there is 
something qualitative about yellow which attracts attention. 
Similarly, certain qualities of tones or tone combinations stand 
out over others which are physically more intense. This factor 
of quality should not be confused with meaning, which is a sub¬ 
jective condition to be considered later. There is something in 


152 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


the very nature of certain stimuli themselves which makes them 
striking to the observer. 

In some instances what is usually considered quality may be 
the resultant of a peculiar combination of sensory impressions. 
This is doubtless true in the auditory realm and probably in 
others. A speaker with a relatively mild but pleasing voice may 
arrest the attention of an audience, whereas one with a blatant 
voice may fail. 

3. A large object attracts attention. The size of the stimu¬ 
lus is related to attention. Because this is particularly true 
of visual stimuli, it has become an important consideration in 
advertising. The advertiser has to pay for his space and of 
course wants to utilize it to the fullest extent. His problem is 
to discover the size of advertisement which will give him maxi¬ 
mum value. To be sure, attention is not the only consideration 
which determines the value of the size of an advertisement. As 
Poffenberger 1 points out, there are certain other conditions 
which tend to favor the larger advertisement. It is usually 
given the more favored position in an advertising medium. It 
eliminates competition. More money is spent to make it effec¬ 
tive, because more money is paid for the space. Finally, the 
large advertisement gives the reader the impression that the 
advertiser is prospering, since he can afford to buy so much 
space; hence the reader is inclined to favor that product. 

It is important for the advertiser to know the relative im¬ 
portance of the different factors which make size valuable. If 
it is thought that the whole value of size is its power to compel 
attention, the advertiser may merely buy large spaces, with 
little concern for what he puts in them. Hence, psychologists 
have made extended studies in an attempt to determine the 
relation of size to attention. After summing up this experi¬ 
mental evidence, Poffenberger concludes that “ with increasing 

1 Poffenberger, A. T., Psychology in Advertising , pp. 175-176. Shaw, 
1925. 


ATTENTION 


153 

size of space there does not go an increasing attention effect, 
but that the effect is about equal to the square root of the 
area.” 1 

4. Repetition of a stimulus attracts attention. The first 
presentation of a stimulus may pass unnoticed, but if it is re¬ 
peated several times, it will force itself into attention. There 
are many everyday illustrations of this. If some person in 
your presence raises his hand to rub his face or hair, you 
doubtless will not observe it, but if he does it several times you 
probably will notice it. Some persons make habitual grimaces 
which are very noticeable. These probably would pass un¬ 
observed, however, if they were made but once. It is their 
repetition which calls attention to them. For the same reason, 
the intermittent ringing of an alarm clock is more likely to 
waken a sleeper than continuous ringing. 

There is a point, however, beyond which repetition ceases to 
be effective. If a stimulus is often repeated, we become ac¬ 
customed to it, so that it no longer makes any appeal to atten¬ 
tion. This is borne out by our experiences with the grimaces 
to which we have just referred. If you remain long in the 
company of a person who has one of these habit spasms, you 
soon will come to ignore it. If a faucet drips water it may be 
very annoying at first, but after a time you do not notice it any 
more than you notice the continuous ticking of the clock in the 
room. 

We all recognize the advantage which comes from our ability 
to ignore an oft-repeated stimulus which has little significance 
for us. If repetition is to be effective, it must have continued 
or changing significance. 

The power of repetition to attract attention has likewise re¬ 
ceived the consideration of advertisers because the advertiser 
has to pay for his use of repetition. That advertisers are con¬ 
vinced of the value of repetition is evidenced by the fact that 
1 Poffenberger, A. T., Psychology in Advertising, p. 194. Shaw, 1925. 


154 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


advertisements are repeated over and over again. The problem 
is to discover the point of diminishing returns. Here again, 
however, the value of repetition does not lie wholly in its power 
to attract attention, but partly in its power to facilitate 
memory. 

The study of the effect of repetitions of a stimulus on atten¬ 
tion is a very complex one because it is closely bound up with 
other factors in attention and is influenced by the length of 
time between presentations. Results seem to indicate that 
succeeding presentations add to the attention-compelling value 
of the stimulus, but in decreasing amounts. The popular way 
to utilize the factor of repetition evidently is to launch an ad¬ 
vertising campaign in which the appeal is made in various 
forms (introducing the factor of novelty or change); then after 
allowing an interval to elapse, to launch another campaign, 
usually of a somewhat different nature. Utilization of repeti¬ 
tion to the best advantage depends upon the proper balance 
between it and monotony, because when repetition becomes 
monotonous, it is a stimulus to inattention rather than to 
attention. 

5. A novel stimulus attracts attention. The object at the 
focus of consciousness, the one to which we are attending, has 
the most dominant influence on our reactions. When an item 
comes to our attention, we must respond to it in some manner. 
If it is something with which we are very familiar, we react in 
our customary manner and it ceases to occupy the focus. If it 
is not familiar, we cannot dispose of it so easily. It intrigues 
us, we wonder just what we should do about it, and it is 
this very uncertainty, this doubt on our part as to what 
we should do, which makes the object remain in the focus of 
attention. 

We are all familiar with the operation of this principle. If 
a woman walks down the street wearing a hat of the fashion of 
1776, or even of five years ago, she will attract a great deal of 


ATTENTION 


i55 


attention. The author was once attracted by a large crowd 
which had gathered on a city street. Upon investigating, he 
found that a man and woman had come in to see the sights, 
dressed in “ Sunday clothes ” of the last generation. This 
queerly dressed couple attracted the attention of the crowd 
more readily than the expensively decorated shop windows 
which had been designed for that purpose. 

Of course we are interested primarily in the secondary re¬ 
sults of attention. We want to attract attention, but if this 
is followed by ridicule or scorn it is ineffective from the prac¬ 
tical standpoint. The shop-owners would not want to get the 
reaction from the crowd that this couple did. The problem 
confronting us in our several professions is to arouse interest 
which will end in a favorable reaction. 

Common Factor in Objective Determinants of Attention. 
The effectiveness of some of the factors which we have been 
considering may be summed up in the one word change. It is 
probable that change is the most effective stimulus to attention 
that we can discover. This is simply another way of expressing 
the essential nature of attention which we have shown is the 
result of the competition of a vast number of stimuli to gain 
the focus of consciousness. If a certain stimulus, because of 
the balance of forces, is not changing very much, its relative 
position in attention is the same. If it changes rapidly, it has 
a relatively better chance of gaining attention. 

The change, of course, is effective if it is from a mild in¬ 
tensity to a strong intensity, but it may be just as effective if 
it is in the other direction. For instance, if we are in a position 
where there is a continuous noise, we may come to ignore it. 
Let the noise suddenly stop and we immediately become aware 
of the change. It has been found that a person may have a 
hard time adjusting himself in a completely sound-proof room. 
He is ill at ease. He misses the noises about which he com¬ 
plained, and he cannot ignore their absence. An old miller 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


IS6 

used to start his grist mill and then go to sleep. As long as the 
din continued in its regular rhythm, he slept soundly. If it 
changed in the slightest, he was awake in an instant to see 
what was wrong or why the speed of the machinery had 
changed. Let the clock stop ticking and we notice it, whereas 
we did not know that it existed when it ticked in its accustomed 
manner. A telegraph-operator, seemingly oblivious to the clat¬ 
ter of the keys, is immediately attentive when his particular call 
comes in. 

Interaction of Objective Determinants of Attention. In 

most instances when a stimulus attracts our attention it does 
so, not on account of the action of any one of the factors which 
we have enumerated, but because of a union of several. The 
successful advertiser does not depend solely upon magnitude, 
novelty, repetition, intensity, or change. He uses them all in 
varying combinations. Furthermore, the practical value of 
attracting attention is to gain a favorable response. If this is 
to be achieved, the determinants of attention must be so ar¬ 
ranged that the response of the individual will be of the de¬ 
sirable sort. If the response is not of the desirable sort, it 
would have been better if the stimulus had not been brought to 
the attention of the individual. A good illustration of the 
futile arousal of attention is the device used by some shop- 
owners to draw the attention of pedestrians to the displays in 
their windows. They place the knocker of an electric bell so 
that it will strike on the shop window. This device gets the 
attention of those who pass, but if you watch their reactions, 
you will almost invariably see an expression of annoyance on 
their features. The store-keeper’s object was to get purchasers 
but all he succeeded in doing was to annoy people. Road¬ 
side advertising which uses the word stop printed in large let¬ 
ters to gain attention may have a similar effect. One is 
irritated when his attention is aroused if a suitable action on 
his part is not suggested at the same time. 


ATTENTION 


I S 7 

Subjective Determinants of Attention. Of at least as great 
importance as the objective determinants of attention are the 
subjective determinants which favor or oppose any particular 
stimulus. The consideration of the subjective determinants 
has been much misunderstood because of our personal reac¬ 
tion toward them. We have a feeling that we can arbitrarily 
select the thing to which we shall attend and bend our energies 
toward that end. When, in spite of our seeming efforts, some¬ 
thing else gains the focus, we feel it is because we have not 
exerted our energies to a sufficient degree. The common-sense 
notion of the development of attention has been to strive harder 
to attend, to bend all energies toward banishing the irrele¬ 
vant ideas and favoring the relevant. Anyone who has tried 
this method will bear witness to its futility. 

The subjective factors which favor attention may be summed 
up in one word, interest, a term which we shall presently ana¬ 
lyze into its component parts. When we are interested in a 
subject, we do not need to force ourselves; we cannot help 
attending. Realizing this, some persons have tried to urge that 
we force ourselves to become interested. But we cannot de¬ 
velop interest by force; we must follow the principles upon 
which it operates. Interest is not static. It changes with age, 
with training, with emotional patterns, and with every experi¬ 
ence of life. Consequently, our study of the subjective factors 
in attention will be a study of the manner in which certain 
types of stimuli become welcome or interesting to the in¬ 
dividual. 

i. Some stimuli are natively more interesting than others. 
The child responds more readily to a loud sound, a bright light, 
or a sharp pain than he does to a symphony, a beautiful paint¬ 
ing, or an eloquent speech. He is equipped to respond to in¬ 
tense sensory stimuli but, since they have little or no meaning 
to him, his reactions are largely proportional to their intensity. 
Because his responses are unorganized, his reactions are usually 


158 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


short lived. Consequently, he responds first to one impression 
and then to another. In other words, he is distractable. Dis- 
tractability is merely the result of the fact that all his impres¬ 
sions have equal subjective value. His interests are vague and 
fleeting because his impressions are vague and his responses 
random. To make a situation interesting to the young child, 
one must make the stimulus striking. It is futile to chide a 
child for lack of interest and inability to attend. Rather, one 
must arouse his interest by giving him stimuli adequate to 
challenge his reactions. His interest may be aroused by teach¬ 
ing him the significance of specific situations and not by mor¬ 
alizing about the value of interest as such. The same principle 
holds with reference to adult interests. If an adult will not 
attend to a particular stimulus, it is because that situation has 
little or no meaning to him. 

2. Meaning stimulates interest. We shall find when we 
come to study perception that meanings are acquired by re¬ 
peated and varying responses to similar situations. A person’s 
response may be inadequate or it may even appear wrong to an¬ 
other person, but it, nevertheless has meaning for the one making 
the response. Meaning is then nothing but familiarity. If a 
person listens to a symphony orchestra playing a new selection, 
he may derive pleasure from the music from the very start, but 
that pleasure is accentuated and his interest quickened by the 
recognition of the dominant, strain appearing in different har¬ 
monic relationships throughout the selection. Show a book to 
a little child who cannot read, and the printed page will have 
no interest at all. If he is old enough to get the significance 
from pictures, he wants to leaf through the book to find the 
pictures. If he is too young for the pictures to have meaning, 
he will want to tear the book in order to hear the paper rattle 
and tear. In the latter instance, rattling and tearing are the 
meaningful experiences; in the former, the pictures are. In 
later life the printing furnishes the material which is most in- 


ATTENTION 


159 


teresting. Childhood interests often persist, and color adult 
interests. We are probably all interested in hearing paper tear 
and rattle, but we have inhibited gratification of this interest 
because it is destructive and because we have probably been 
punished for conduct of this sort. We all still enjoy looking 
at the pictures in a book. Hence the interests of the adult 
are not so vitally different from those of the child; they are 
merely more complex because experiences have given them 
more meaning. 

3. Uncertainty stimulates interest. If we know a thing too 
well, it is likely to lack interest. If, on the other hand, we are 
confronted with a situation in which we do not know just how 
to respond, our interest is stimulated. There must be just 
enough uncertainty to arouse a little fear of results. This is 
one reason why football and other games are so interesting. If 
the fear element is too pronounced, the interest may turn into a 
tendency to retreat from the situation. There must be enough 
meaning in it to enable us to guess what we shall do. 

If you wish to destroy the interest of a book, read the last 
chapter first or get someone who has read it to tell you how it 
turns out. Persons sometimes express a wish to foresee what 
the future holds for them, but few of us really want this power 
if it could be granted. The spice of life is the uncertainty of 
the future. If the uncertainty were removed, there would be 
no thrill in speculating about it. 

An executive who has men in his charge must utilize this 
characteristic of human nature if he intends to keep his men 
attentive to their work. All work tends to become monotonous 
and uninteresting. It is because the things which are ahead are 
uncertain and because the men feel that in some vague way the 
present labor is leading them on to the mysterious future that 
they are intent on continuing the work. If men are in a con¬ 
stant state of fear lest they lose their jobs, they will not work 
well; but, on the other hand, if they see nothing better ahead, 


i6o 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


they will become indifferent. The wise administrator is the 
one who can get a balance between the two. 

The story is told that Mr. Schwab came into one of his plants 
one morning and placed a number in a conspicuous place on the 
wall. The men did not know what the number meant, but 
they were all immediately interested and curious to learn its 
significance. The talk all centered around this queer perform¬ 
ance on the part, of Mr. Schwab. The next morning he came 
in and placed before them another number in the same mys¬ 
terious manner. After a time it was discovered that he was 
doing the same thing in other plants and that the numbers rep¬ 
resented the relative efficiency of the different plants. The re¬ 
sultant competition to make a better efficiency score was much 
more effective because of the initial interest aroused by this 
method than it would have been if he had presented his plan in 
a more formal and less striking manner. 

4. Emotional habits determine interest. When a situation 
first attracts our attention, it is due to a combination of ex¬ 
ternal and internal conditions which may be the result of pure 
chance. As a result, of our first response, meaning is derived 
and our emotional reaction to the total situation may be pleas¬ 
ant or unpleasant. If the emotional reaction is of a favor¬ 
able sort, there follows a tendency to favor that situation 
and to investigate details. This adds still more meaning, 
fosters a still more favorable emotional attitude, and 
gives a stronger impetus to attend to things related to the 
situation. 

Many of our likes and dislikes for certain foods are based 
on this factor. A boy who became nauseated from eating too 
much cheese became so thoroughly affected that he could eat 
no cheese for the remainder of his life. One child may dislike 
cod-liver oil and another may like it merely because of the 
way in which it was given to them in their early childhood. 
The foods fads of adults and the intensity with which they ad- 


ATTENTION 


161 


here to their likes and dislikes bear constant testimony to the 
permanence of emotional interests. 

Many a permanent, professional interest is built up in this 
manner. A boy may -become interested in a stone because of 
some chance circumstance. If some person happens to be near 
who knows something about geology and explains the reason 
why the stone appears as it does, the scope of the boy’s interest 
is widened, and he tends to become interested in other stones. 
More details are added, additional emotional patterns are es¬ 
tablished, and the boy may develop a permanent interest in 
geology. If, on the other hand, this first interest, leads to un¬ 
pleasant emotional experiences — if he is forced to memorize a 
dozen long names and pass a hard examination, if he gets a 
reprimand from his mother for getting his clothes dirty, or if 
he falls off a cliff while trying to get the stone and is seriously 
hurt — he may develop a positive dislike for geology. 

If the professional man could trace his interest in his pro¬ 
fession, he would be likely to find that it was initiated in some 
trivial experience, later followed by others, which aroused his 
curiosity in the subject matter of that profession and furnished 
the drive for continued interest and enthusiasm. A physician 
should not have to force himself to be interested in his work 
and to attend to its details. If he does, something was lacking 
in his introduction to his profession or in some later experience 
in connection with it. The reason an outsider cannot under¬ 
stand why a chemist will spend hours in a laboratory working 
with uninteresting test tubes is that he does not know the ex¬ 
periences which are back of that interest or the hopes for the 
future that inspire it. 

All this points to the conclusion that attempts to force the 
attention of a child upon some subject are futile. Forcing is 
likely to develop an antagonism which will persist indefinitely. 
A good illustration of the ineffectiveness of this method is found 
in the old way of teaching arithmetic to children. It is well 


162 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


known that college students hate mathematics and the ma¬ 
jority of those who take it do so only because it is required 
for graduation. There is no inherent, reason why mathematics 
should be more uninteresting than any other study. But after 
seeing how it is taught in most schools, one does not need to 
seek further to know why it is disliked. A child is set to work 
memorizing tables and solving problems which have no mean¬ 
ing for him and is made to suffer if his attention wanders. Not 
a single one of the principles of interest and attention that we 
have enumerated is followed. If the lawyer, physician, dentist, 
minister, or any other professional man had been introduced 
into his profession as most children are introduced to mathe¬ 
matics, how much success would he have? Unfortunately, 
there are professional men who do react to their professions in 
just this manner. 

Continued attention to any general subject or to any pro¬ 
fessional activity is based on the development of a favorable 
emotional attitude toward it. This attitude will tend to make 
the person respond with interest and, as a consequence, attend 
to details whenever anything related to that subject is pre¬ 
sented. Watch the man who is truly interested in art viewing 
a beautiful scene, or the man who is interested in music listen¬ 
ing to beautiful music, if you wish to see the compelling 
force of a dominant interest. Such a person does not have to 
ask how he can make himself attend to his work. 


XXIV. Adjustments Which Facilitate Attention 

With attention there is likely to be an adjustment of the 
sense organs so that the stimulus may become clearer. But 
attention is not merely sensory clearness and an inner attitude; 
it is a response. Attention responses may be divided roughly, 
according to degree, into incipient movements, emotional reac¬ 
tions, and logical reactions. 


ATTENTION 


163 

Adjustment of Sense Organs in Attention. A sensory 
stimulus may be present and at the same time be totally ignored 
if our attention is centered elsewhere. A common illustration 
of this is the case of a boy who, tremendously interested in 
the game he is playing, hurts his hand. He may continue with 
his play for a considerable period of time without knowing 
that he has injured himself. After the excitement of the game 
is over, he suddenly senses a pain in his hand and sees that it 
is covered with blood. Immediately the pain becomes very in¬ 
tense and he suffers keenly. Once the impression comes to 
the focus of consciousness, there is a tendency for the sense 
organ to adjust more accurately so that the sensory impression 
may become clearer. 

An illustration of this sensory adjustment can be found in 
the field of vision. If the eye is fixated on a particular point, 
one can also get impressions on the periphery of the retina 
from adjacent points. These peripheral stimulations are usu¬ 
ally not so clear as those from the fovea. However, without 
changing the fixation point of the eyes, one can see the objects 
on the periphery more clearly merely by focusing attention on 
them. When this is first attempted, there is an almost irresist¬ 
ible impulse to turn the eyes so that the object of attention will 
be brought to the fovea where it may be seen more clearly. In 
other words the sense organ tends to adjust so that the object 
of attention may be focused where it can make the greatest 
impression. However, even if this attempt is blocked, the 
attention may still be directed to the vague peripheral object, 
which becomes relatively clearer through the mere shift of 
attention. 

The fact, that the adjustment of the sense organs is vital in 
the attentive process should be considered when an attempt is 
made to secure and maintain the attention of an auditor or a 
reader. We all know how hard it is to pay continuous atten¬ 
tion to a speaker whom we cannot hear distinctly. As fatigue 


164 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


causes our bodily tension to relax, our attention wanders even 
though the subject matter may be relatively interesting. Ad¬ 
vertisers would do well to make the dominant message of their 
advertisements appeal to the types of sensory adjustments 
which are easily made. The attention should be directed to the 
important feature of the advertisement by means of an illustra¬ 
tion or by the arrangement of type or lines, and then the sensory 
adjustment encouraged to follow a definite course which will 
bring the whole message to the reader in the most forceful 
manner. The whole experience should leave the reader with a 
pleasant emotional attitude, so that a similar appeal at a future 
time will immediately arrest his attention again. If his atten¬ 
tion is attracted and a state of unpleasant tension results, he 
is likely to inhibit a response to a similar message in the future. 

Motor Adjustments in Attention. Attention is not only 
awareness, it is a response. Man is a living organism, respond¬ 
ing at all times to the situations in which he finds himself. 
Our description of attention is merely another way of saying 
that man selects specific features of his environment to which 
to respond. He responds most forcibly to the dominant fea¬ 
ture, the one which has come to the focus of attention; but 
also, in a less pronounced degree in most instances, he responds 
to other things which may not be at the focus. He responds 
to the whole pattern of stimuli which impinge upon his sense 
organs. 

It is obvious from this that the attentive process involves 
motor adjustments. When one attends to a visual stimulus, 
he makes either actual overt responses or incipient responses 
to what he sees. The same may be said of the responses to 
other sensory stimuli. 

There are various orders of motor response. One type is 
merely the projection of oneself into the situation confronted. 
A man who clenches his fists when he sees a picture of a fight 
illustrates this type of response. One who articulates as he 


ATTENTION 


165 

reads is another example. These persons tend, in incipient 
movements, to act a part in the situations to which they are 
attending. 

Another type of motor response is emotional abandon. A 
person may gaze at a work of art and permit himself to be 
carried away by it. The difference between a person of this 
and of the previous type may be seen in the different manner 
in which each might react to a musical selection. The person 
of the first type may keep time with his hand or foot or hum 
the melody; the person of the second type might do neither, 
but, instead, relax and permit himself to be charmed by the 
emotional effects. 

A third type of motor adjustment in attention is the result 
of a more or less logical analysis of the situation. This last type 
is the one generally considered most desirable. It does not 
preclude the first two, however. If we speak to a person, we 
do not wish his response to be a mere utterance of articulate 
sounds. We want a logical response, a definite reaction to 
our verbal message. We look for evidences of projection and 
of the emotional response as we proceed with our message in 
order to see whether it is understood, but a reaction to what 
we say is what is desired. 

The significance of adequate motor response in attention is 
illustrated by the following incident. A teacher had labored 
to get a boy in her class to attend to her instruction. He was 
continually inattentive. Finally, one day as she talked, he 
looked directly at her (evidence of adequate sensory ad¬ 
justment) ; as she talked his lips and jaw showed incipient 
movements (evidence of the first type of motor adjustment); 
and his face seemed to glow with pleasure (evidence of an emo¬ 
tional response). The teacher accepted these signs as an in¬ 
dication that he was attending to her message. When she had 
finished, she sought to elicit the third type of motor response, 
which would indicate that the boy had made a logical analysis 


l66 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

of what she had said, by asking him a question. She was 
amazed to hear him reply, “ It is only your lower jaw moves 
when you talk, isn’t it? ” The boy had attended, and had even 
logically analyzed and adequately reacted to the subject matter 
of his attention, but the teacher had been deceived as to the 
center of his interest. 

The salesman or any other person who has to influence others 
must learn to interpret from the expressive activity of a per¬ 
son whether he is attending and to what he is attending. He 
must, be unobtrusive himself if he wants the customer to attend 
to his message. Many a good sales talk has been diverted from 
its logical effectiveness because the salesman had a gold tooth 
which dominated the attention of his prospective buyer. If a 
person cannot hear what you say because he has to look at 
how you are dressed, or how you comb your hair, or how you 
wrinkle your nose when you talk, your message is liable to be 
lost. 

Think of the persons who have impressed you during the day. 
What was it that stood out? Was it the cosmetics, the per¬ 
fume, the clothing, the quality of the voice, or the things that 
were said or done? After you have made this analysis, you 
might make a comparison and determine to some extent what 
it is about yourself that attracts attention, and whether or not 
the results of such attention are likely to be favorable. 


XXV. Making Attention Function Effectively 

In this section we shall study some practical applications of 
the principles we have been considering. Some pertinent ques¬ 
tions are: How can distraction be avoided? How can atten¬ 
tion be kept active? How can we keep our attention on a 
specific subject? How can we hold or divert the attention 
of others? How can attention be turned from unpleasant 
subjects? How can we guide the movements of attention? 


ATTENTION 167 

Practical Hints in the Control of Attention. The con¬ 
trol of attention, both in ourselves and in others, presents a num¬ 
ber of problems. 

1. How can distractions be overcome? A practical con¬ 
sideration in the study of attention is the discovery of means 
of controlling the subjective determinants so that external de¬ 
terminants may be overruled. When one tries to attend to the 
study of a lesson, his attention may be diverted by the music 
he hears from an adjoining house or by some other irrelevant 
sensory stimulus. How can one overcome these external stimuli 
so that he can continue with his studies? Or one may be dis¬ 
tracted with ideas which press forward and occupy the focus 
of consciousness. How can one keep the thoughts of his plans 
for the evening, or the unpleasant thoughts connected with the 
death of a dear friend, or similar insistent ideas from crowding 
out interest in his work? 

It has been almost universally assumed that distractions are 
inimical to attention, and that if we could determine the 
amount of distraction necessary to interfere with attention 
under various conditions, we should have a measure of the 
strength of attention possessed by a person. Consequently, ex¬ 
periments have been devised to introduce distractions while a 
person is occupied with some task. These experiments have 
not corroborated the theory. What actually happens when a 
distracting situation is introduced is that the person is momen¬ 
tarily disturbed; but in a short time he overcomes this disturb¬ 
ing influence, is actually stimulated by it to do better work, 
and continues in a state of increased tension and productivity 
until the disturbance is removed; whereupon he relaxes and 
does somewhat less efficient work. These experiments seem to 
indicate that distraction incites the worker to greater tension 
in his attempt to overcome the distraction. If the worker did 
not care whether he accomplished anything, the results might 
not be the same. The boy in the school room who does not 


i 68 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


want to study does not attempt to fight, the distracting in¬ 
fluence of the noise of the circus parade passing the window. 
Certainly such a distraction would not increase his produc¬ 
tivity. He would welcome the chance to stop studying for a 
time. 

If resistance to a distraction is successful, it is accomplished 
by positive and not by negative methods. If, when one hears 
a disturbing noise, he directs his attention to overcoming its 
influence, he is thereby paying attention to it, albeit in a nega¬ 
tive manner. By saying continually, “ I will not listen, I will 
not listen, I will not listen,” he is effectively keeping the noise 
at the focus of attention. The same thing obtains when trying 
to resist ideational distraction. To say, “ I will not think of 
that horrible scene, I will not think of it, I will not think of it,” 
is merely reminding oneself of it. The way to get rid of an un¬ 
pleasant idea is to get a stronger, more interesting one to take 
its place. 

2. How can attention be kept active? Alertness is a funda¬ 
mental requisite of modern life. We must be aware of the 
varying conditions in our environment, respond to each situa¬ 
tion as it arises, and be prepared to change our type of re¬ 
sponse with each change in our surroundings. If our work is 
so uninteresting that we cannot keep alert, it may pay us to 
analyze it and consider whether there is not some way of en¬ 
livening it. Often we can rearrange our work so that it takes on 
a new appearance. The very question as to whether there is 
not some better way to do the work will be a stimulant. Many 
inventions of great use to man were devised because some in¬ 
telligent person began to question the wisdom of continuing in 
the same monotonous manner an extremely boresome task. A 
question stimulates interest. “ Why should I be doing this in 
this manner? ” “Is there not an easier way to do it? ” 
Such questions will sharpen one’s interest and stimulate his 
attention. 


ATTENTION 


169 


3. How can attention be kept on a specific subject? One 
can keep his attention on a given task by continually searching 
for new details and new meanings in relation to the subject 
matter in hand. When we have exhausted the novelty in a 
subject, our attention may wander and some new item of 
a different sort will come in to claim the focus. But when is a 
subject exhausted? There are infinite possibilities in any sub¬ 
ject if one only searches for them. It is only when we begin 
to know something about a subject that we realize how great a 
field for exploration remains. It is only the ignorant, com¬ 
placent egoist who thinks he has exhausted any subject which 
confronts him. 

4. How can I hold the attention of another? Getting the 
attention of another is absolutely essential before you can in¬ 
fluence him in any particular. If you wish to inspire a group 
of persons, you must in some way get their attention centered 
upon the point at issue; you must arouse their interest in your 
appeal so that they adopt a receptive attitude toward your pres¬ 
entation. Whether your appeal is written or oral the prin¬ 
ciples are the same. In the first place you can study the in¬ 
dividual or group of individuals and determine their subjective 
interests. By appealing to these, you will be more likely to 
secure the subjective support of attention. You can also ar¬ 
range your communications so that the objective factors will 
follow the natural laws of attention. Keep ever presenting 
new aspects of your subject so that it has the continual appeal 
of novelty, interest, and meaning for your audience. If you 
are speaking, you can determine the effects of your appeal as 
you proceed and can modify your speech so as to carry your 
hearer from one point of interest to another. In brief, you 
hold the attention of another by studying him, not by studying 
yourself or your technique of presentation, except as you at¬ 
tempt to adapt it to his responses. 

These principles are illustrated by the good life-insurance 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


170 

salesman. Before such a salesman approaches you, he finds 
out all he can about you. He learns about your work and your 
income, your professional and social interests, and whether 
there are any persons dependent, upon you. After finding out 
how much insurance you now carry, he is in a position to work 
out a proposed budget for additional insurance. After doing 
this he is prepared for his first interview. This may be brief 
and have little or nothing to do with insurance. In later in¬ 
terviews, during which he continues his efforts to interest you, 
he may sell you insurance. His success as a salesman is largely 
a measure of his success in interesting you. 

5. How can I divert my attention jrom an unpleasant sub¬ 
ject? The attempt to force a subject from attention is always 
futile. It can be banished only by achieving a more intense 
interest in some other subject. If this is impossible because of 
the intense emotional appeal of the undesirable subject, then 
the best method may be to let the unpleasant subject have con¬ 
trol until by sheer familiarity it passes out of the focus. This 
method may cause some unhappiness, but the results are worth 
the cost. 

6. How can I divert the attention of another? The atten¬ 
tion of another is diverted by the same methods as are effec¬ 
tive in directing one’s own attention. Precaution must be taken 
that the person does not perceive what is being attempted. The 
sleight-of-hand performer is a past master at diverting the at¬ 
tention of his audience. While his audience is watching him do 
one thing, he is doing something else which they do not per¬ 
ceive. How different his technique from the crude methods 
adults sometimes try with children! How absurd to admonish 
a child in this manner: “ Now let us forget you want some 
candy and let us talk of your school work.” 

7. How can 1 guide the movements of attention? In all at¬ 
tempts to control attention, remember that it cannot be forced 
into static molds. It is continually shifting and the only con- 


ATTENTION 


171 

trol that can be exercised must be in relation to the direction 
of the shifts. Concentrate your efforts on steering, not, on 
applying the brakes. Steering may not always take the direc¬ 
tion which appears most logical, but the direction must be de¬ 
termined in relation to interest. Be guided by interest and the 
task will be easy. 


Selected References 

Betts, G. H., Mind and Its Education, Chapter II. Appleton, 
1923. 

Morgan, J. J. B., and Gilliland, A. R., An Introduction to Psy¬ 
chology, Chapter VII. Macmillan, 1927. 

Pillsbury, W. B., Essentials of Psychology, Chapter V. Macmillan, 
1920. 

Woodworth, R. S., Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter XI. Holt, 
1934 - 


CHAPTER VI 


PERCEPTION 

XXVI. The Nature of Perception 

Perception is the process of giving immediate meaning to 
sensory experiences. Meaning is the result of the stimuli one 
has received and the way one has responded to them. It is also 
dependent upon temporary influences arising from one’s imme¬ 
diate surroundings. Perceptions are as complex as life itself. 

Perception Is Meaning. It is not enough for a person to 
have sensory awareness of what is going on around him. 
Things and happenings must have meaning if one is to adjust 
intelligently to them. As I look at a printed page I am not 
merely seeing black and white; I am seeing printed symbols 
— words — which have certain significances. If they had no 
significance, they would be merely a blur. The richness of 
our lives is directly related to the meaning that we give to our 
experiences. To one unversed in music a symphony concert 
may be a mere jumble of sounds; to the orchestra leader each 
sound in the whole ensemble has significance. The process of 
giving immediate meaning to our sensory experiences is called 
perception . It, will be our task in this chapter to study the 
manner in which perception develops and the various forms it 
assumes in an individual’s mental organization. 

Varied Interpretations of Similar Experiences. A man’s 
life is rich or poor in proportion to the richness or poorness of 
his perceptual processes. One man will take a trip through a 
city and see a large number of things which fit into the back¬ 
ground of his experience. Later he can tell you a great deal 


172 


PERCEPTION 


173 


about his trip. Another man, covering exactly the same terri¬ 
tory, will know practically nothing about what he saw or heard. 
Furthermore, the class of things that have meaning will vary 
with each person according to the specialized experiences of 
each. The psychologist riding in a passenger coach sees his fel¬ 
low passengers as so many persons with various traits mani¬ 
festing themselves in different types of conduct. The tailor 
riding in the same coach interprets his experiences in terms of 
clothing. The suspicious, nonsocial person sees so many po¬ 
tential enemies. The conductor sees so many passengers, the 
vendor so many hungry or restless animals, the physician so 
many possible patients, and the porter so many sources of tips. 

From this illustration it should be clear that we do not re¬ 
act to sensations as such; that is, to lights, colors, sounds, 
tastes, smells, contacts, and the like. We react to these sensa¬ 
tions according to the way in which they represent to us con¬ 
crete, meaningful situations. If a stimulus which has no signifi¬ 
cance impinges upon our sense organs, the only way in which 
we may react is in random fashion. It is quite likely that a 
large part of an infant’s reactions are of this sort. He hears 
a loud sound and may jump, throw up his arms, kick his legs, 
and even utter a cry. The sound is merely a stimulus to arouse 
him to activity, but the nature of the situation producing the 
sound or the utility of his reactions has no meaning for him. 
How does it get meaning? 

Perceptions Result from Experiences. A few observa¬ 
tions should convince us that meanings must be learned. It is 
apparent that the world, and life in general, has very little 
significance for a newborn child. If we watch the development 
of meanings for the child we shall discover that they are almost 
exclusively the product of the various experiences which he 
undergoes. A comparison of adult with infantile interpretations 
of identical situations will show a divergence too great to be 
explained by any other influence than that of learning. Finally, 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


174 

each one of us can see his own meanings being continually 
modified in terms of his own learning. We cannot escape the 
conclusion that perceptions are learned meanings. 

How do we accomplish this transition from the perceptual 
poverty of the infant to the wealth of meanings possessed by 
the adult? Let us attempt to trace this development first in 
its broad outlines. Having done so, we shall be in a position to 
appreciate the more complex factors in perception. 

If the total of all the sensory stimuli which a child experiences 
at one moment is weak in intensity the child has little or no 
occasion to make any reaction and probably is relatively inert. 
Let the strength of sensory impressions increase and the tend¬ 
ency to activity will be increased proportionately. The child 
probably does not differentiate the source of this sensory dis¬ 
turbance, he probably does not know the difference between 
lights, sounds, pressures, and tensions; he is simply being 
“ bothered.” Since the nature of this disturbance is indeter¬ 
minate to him he doubtless responds with corresponding vague¬ 
ness. To any intense sensory impression, or to any combina¬ 
tion of impressions involving different sense fields, he will make 
the same kinds of random reactions — crying, waving of arms, 
kicking of legs, twisting of body, tension of facial muscles, and 
the like. The sensory impressions have no particular signifi¬ 
cance, they are merely more or less arousing; and the motor 
responses have no specific purpose, they are simply more or 
less violent depending upon the intensity of the incoming 
sensations. 

The essential reason why a child learns the meaning of all 
this confused mass of experience is that he does something 
about it. He does the wrong thing in the large majority of in¬ 
stances, but he occasionally does the right thing. In the latter 
cases the intensity of these impressions is directly changed as 
a result of his activity. In short, perceptual learning cannot be 
separated from motor learning; the whole is a unitary process. 


PERCEPTION 


i 7 S 

If the stimuli are presented in a confused jumble, and if the 
child’s reactions are also indefinite and indiscriminate, how do 
specific meanings ever arise? They arise because the combina¬ 
tions of sensations and movements are continually changing. 
For example, suppose the child experiences a situation in which 
there are sensory factors which we may call A, B, C, D, and E. 
Suppose he reacts to this situation with movements L, M, N, O, 
and P. Suppose, further, that the sensory element which is of 
significance to him at the time is B and that the only response 
which has any value in this situation is M. If at a later time 
he experiences A, C, D, E, F, and G, he will discover that mak¬ 
ing his previous responses, L, M, N, O, and P, will not give 
him satisfactory results. He may then be stimulated by this 
failure, since the stimulating condition will continue, to make 
other movements, say Q, R, S, T, and the like, until he finds 
some reaction which will meet the new situation. When B is 
present, M is a satisfactory response. When B is absent, M 
is of little or no value. Still later, he may experience B in other 
combinations than the original and if, in each different situa¬ 
tion where B is present, he discovers that M is a satisfactory 
reaction, he tends to use it whenever B occurs in any combina¬ 
tion. In other words, B becomes a cue for the response M. 

A more concrete illustration may make this process clearer. 
Suppose the child sees his mother’s face (A), sees his milk 
bottle (B), hears his mother’s voice (C), hears his brother 
screaming (D), and smells a delicious odor (E). To be sure, 
in such a situation any behavior he performs may be more 
stimulated by internal hunger pains than by any of the external 
stimuli or all of them combined. At any rate, let us suppose 
that he is stimulated to activity. He may kick his legs (L), 
wave his arms (M), raise his head (N), twist his neck (O), and 
yell at the top of his lungs (P). As a result his hands come in 
contact with the bottle, he grasps it with his struggling fists and 
takes it to his mouth, placing the nipple between his lips. 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


176 

Suppose that, at other times, the bottle appears in other re¬ 
lations than the four given. There may be no noise, some other 
person may be holding it, he may not be hungry, there may be 
no odor. If, in each case that the bottle appears, it is in a 
different setting, he learns that it has specific identity of its 
own. His movement of grasping and conveying to his mouth 
is isolated in the same fashion. He learns when he sees his 
mother, hears his brother scream, smells an odor, and the like, 
that waving his arms does not lead to a bottle and food. By 
varied experiences the bottle is singled out of a complex mass 
of other facts in his environment as something to be grasped 
and conveyed to the mouth. The bottle is a cue to specific arm 
movements rather than to yelling, kicking, squirming, and rais¬ 
ing the head. Gradually these superfluous accompaniments 
of taking his bottle drop away and the bottle has acquired a 
specific meaning. 

The illustration we have given makes the process appear to 
be more simple than it actually is in real life. Furthermore, 
much learning of this sort is erroneous and must be corrected 
by subsequent experiences. Indeed, the entire life of a person 
is taken up with revising his perceptual outlook. He learns 
where he is in error and modifies his conduct as new experi¬ 
ences enrich his life. 

Influence of Temporary Set on Perception. A person 
may interpret and react to the same situation in different ways, 
depending upon the attitude or set with which he approaches 
the situation. This set may be the direct result of preceding 
external situations or of some definite internal experience; or it 
may be due to incidental factors in the situation itself; that is, 
to the context. 

1. Context . Let us illustrate the effect of context first. If 
in broad daylight, with different persons moving about the 
house, talking, whistling, and singing, you should hear a floor 
board creak, you would be likely to ignore it completely; or, 


PERCEPTION 


177 


if you heard it, you would be likely to interpret it as the creak¬ 
ing of the floor. Suppose that the same sound is heard in the 
dead of the night. You may hear it as the approach of a bur¬ 
glar. In the light of this interpretation, your heart, will beat 
faster and you will hold your breath as you listen for the next 
sound. The small boy walking with his father will see the 
shadows of trees on a moonlight night as shadows and be un¬ 
afraid. Let him see the same shadows while walking alone 
through a cemetery, and they become horrible specters. A 
salesman will have quite a different reaction toward a prospec¬ 
tive customer if he approaches him in his elaborately furnished 
office, sitting behind a formidable desk, from the reaction he 
will have if he meets him on the golf course. It is well known 
that a man is much more likely to react favorably to a sugges¬ 
tion if it is presented to him after he has finished an excellent 
meal served in a spacious dining room to the accompaniment 
of fine music, and followed by a good cigar. Under such cir¬ 
cumstances a proposition looks very different from what it 
would if the same man, suffering from dyspepsia, was ap¬ 
proached in his office when his desk was piled high with dis¬ 
tasteful and unfinished work. A garment will look gorgeous if 
displayed in fine surroundings, but if it is placed in the bar¬ 
gain basement it looks tawdry. 

2. Contrast. On the other hand, the local setting may fur¬ 
nish to a particular object a peculiar advantage due to contrast. 
A tall man looks taller when he is with a small companion. A 
dollar has a different value for the pauper from what it has for 
the millionaire. The sunshine appears particularly bright after 
a series of cloudy days. 

This principle is important in selling. If you wish to sell a 
new car, let the prospective buyer see his own car in compari¬ 
son with a bright new one. The newness of the latest model 
will make a car with which he was fairly well satisfied look re¬ 
markably shabby. A salesman may sell a very high-grade 


i7 8 general psychology 

piece of goods if he will display a piece of very poor quality 
beside the finer piece. On the other hand, if he showed a 
graded series, the buyer might quickly pick one in the middle of 
the series because contrast, would not be effective in this latter 
situation. 

The fact that all our judgments are relative was clearly 
demonstrated in the production of a motion picture. It was 
desired to show Mary Pickford at various ages through the 
picture. Although it was not possible to photograph the star 
when she was a small girl and again at various stages of growth, 
the same effect was secured by changing the size of the furni¬ 
ture in the settings. When surrounded by big furniture, Miss 
Pickford was judged to be small; surrounded by small furni¬ 
ture, she appeared to be grown. 

3. Preparatory events. The events leading up to a percep¬ 
tion are equally important in determining the attitude which 
the observer may take toward it,. A great many jokes are based 
on this principle. By preliminary statements the hearer is pre¬ 
pared for one thing which is suddenly turned off in another di¬ 
rection. Most mechanical puzzles owe their virtue to the fact 
that, they suggest to one a solution which is ineffective. Physi¬ 
cians have more success with their patients when they can in¬ 
spire in them a feeling of confidence. A certain attitude toward 
a situation may be induced by clever manipulation of the events 
leading up to the situation. 

XXVII. Perception in Daily Life 

If we recognize the fact that each individual can interpret 
life only in terms of his own experiences, we then have a 
better understanding of the person whose point of view is dif¬ 
ferent from our own. We should not expect others to give the 
same meaning to situations as we do. Some persons are rather 
slow in seeing the significance of a new situation, while others, 
because of their ability to perceive faint cues, seem uncanny 


PERCEPTION 


179 


in their insight. If we can interpret the faint cues that others 
give through their behavior, we have the basis of social con¬ 
trol in our dealings not only with individuals but also with 
large groups. 


Perceptions Are Individual Interpretations. Our analysis 
of the development of perceptions indicates that perceptions 
depend upon individual experience; hence each perception is an 
individual thing. We perceive things similarly only in so far as 
our experiences have been the same. Since each person has a 
^ life experience different from every 

*. w •* other person, no two persons per- 

ceive their environment in exactly 
the same manner. This a very 
important principle to keep 
• K mind, for if we do not expect others 

to react to life’s experiences just 
ML* JMk as we do, we are less likely to be 

* ^ intolerant. The assertion that each 

man has a right to his own inter- 
FiG T 4 :.T^ 1 T T.! E . 1 I HIS Potation of life is sound, for it is 
based on this principle of the indi- 
Woodworth has expressed this prin- 
We see things not as they 


Figure Represent? 


viduality of perceptions, 
ciple very clearly in his statement: 
are but as we are.” 

There is an experiment in psychology used to demonstrate 
this principle. Show to a number of persons a complicated ink 
blot, such as the one given in Figure 34, and ask them, “ What 
might this be? ” One person may see it as a bat, another as 
two animals fighting, another as an anatomical specimen, an¬ 
other as a ship with spread sails, and so on. The person’s in¬ 
dividual set will determine what he sees. The same principle 
holds in crystal gazing. When one gazes into a crystal, there 
is a play of lights which may be interpreted in any manner con¬ 
genial to the gazer. What one sees in a crystal is a reflection of 


180 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

the perceptual set of the one gazing into it, not the future, as 

charlatans try to tell us. 

What may appear to be pure reasoning is often colored by 
our individual perceptions. Many of our arguments are futile 
because they are simply attempts to defend our own percep¬ 
tion of things against another’s perception of the same things. 
If we could see things through the other’s perceptual set, there 
would be no argument. Consequently, when we attempt to 
convince another of the truth of our position, we must change 
his manner of looking at it to correspond to our own before we 
can expect him to agree that we are right. This principle is 
illustrated by the story of the six blind men of Indostan who 
went to see an elephant. The following paraphrase of the poem 
shows how the perception of each man varied from that of the 
others because of their different experiences. 

First blind man, falling against the elephant’s side: 

“ God bless me! but this elephant is very like a wall.” 

Second blind man, feeling the tusk: 

“ This wonder of an elephant is very like a spear.” 

Third blind man, grasping the squirming trunk: 

“ I see,” quoth he, “ the elephant is very like a snake.” 

Fourth blind man, clasping the knee: 

“ ’Tis clear enough, the elephant is very like a tree.” 

Fifth blind man, catching the ear: 

“ This marvel of an elephant is very like a fan.” 

Sixth blind man, seizing the swinging tail: 

“ I see,” quoth he, “ the elephant is very like a rope.” 


And so these men of Indostan 
Disputed loud and long, 

Each in his own opinion 
Exceeding stiff and strong, 

Though each was partly in the right, 
And all were in the wrong. 


PERCEPTION 


181 


Each man’s interpretation of life is correct because he in¬ 
terprets his own experiences. But his experiences may be in¬ 
adequate. The way to change his views is to enrich his experi¬ 
ence. Study where his perceptions are lacking, furnish him 
the experiences that, will fill in these gaps, and you have won 
the argument. 

The Basis of Extraordinary Insight. A person may often 
be unaware of the particular part of his perceptual experience 
that governs his interpretation. He may think it is some ob¬ 
vious factor, whereas it is often some minor element in the 
situation. There is a tendency on the part of some persons to 
believe that they have a special faculty for interpreting life 

— a faculty which they call intuition. When intuition is 
analyzed, it is found to be nothing but the ability to take 
minor factors into consideration and to act upon them without 
recognizing them as the reasons for the response. When the 
response proves to be correct, the person cannot tell just why he 
acted but, having acted correctly, he is led to believe he has 
some peculiar faculty not possessed by others. Int.uition in¬ 
volves also the willingness to take a chance. Some persons 
are not willing to act until they are certain they are right. The 
person who acts intuitively takes the “ gambler’s chance ” and 
acts upon minimal cues. 

The performance of so-called mind readers can be explained 
in the same way. The mind reader asks you to hide some¬ 
thing while he is absent; then, by taking the hand of some 
person who knows where the object is hidden, he will go to 
it. The person whose hand he grasps has been found to 
make very weak muscular responses which the “ reader ” 
is able to interpret and by means of which he is led to 
the object,. It is the same principle as though the group 
should shout as the person hunts: “Cold — hot — colder 

— warm — hot — very hot.” Although the responses of the 
muscles are not so obvious a cue as the cries are, nevertheless 


i82 general psychology 

their meaning is just as clear to one who has trained himself to 

perceive them. 

The tricks of trained animals can be explained by the same 
principle. For example, the Elberfeld horses were supposed to 
have the ability to do sums, extract square roots, and do similar 
problems that were placed before them on a blackboard. They 
would tap out their responses, appearing to solve the problems 
independently. It was found, however, that the taps were re¬ 
sponses to slight and unintentional movements on the part of 
some one present who knew the answer. When there was no 
one present who knew the answer, the animals were unable to 
solve the problems. 

Perception of Significance in Interpreting Others' Con¬ 
duct. Success in social contacts is dependent largely upon the 
accurate observation and interpretation of the reactions of 
others. The good poker-player is the one who can read the 
emotions of his opponent in spite of all his efforts to hide them. 
These emotions are manifested in little muscular tensions and 
twitchings of the face, hands, or body. 

In many practical situations the value of interpreting such 
signs is apparent. The salesman must be able to tell just how 
his customer is reacting to his sales talk and adjust his ap¬ 
proach accordingly. Many a sale has been lost because the 
salesman tried to get his customer to “ sign ” too quickly. The 
public speaker has to do this same thing on a broader scale. 
He can tell whether his audience is following him or not, and he 
adjusts his speech to the responses he receives from the au¬ 
dience— not visible applause or hisses, but the tiny reactions 
which the inexperienced speaker might be totally unable to 
see. 

Morale. Probably in no situation are the factors of con¬ 
text, the preliminary setting, and the creation by these 
means of a proper attitude more strikingly demonstrated 
than in group morale. By morale is meant a group spirit 


PERCEPTION 183 

which unites each member of the group in the achievement of a 
common end. 

The manner in which a person is introduced to a situation 
may color his whole attitude toward that situation for years. 
Ever after he may see it in terms of his first experiences. This 
was well illustrated by the manner in which civilians were 
introduced into the army during the World War. At first they 
were received gruffly, given poor food and ill-fitting clothing, 
and put to work at distasteful drills. It was found that these 
men maintained a disgruntled attitude throughout their service. 
To overcome this condition, a new plan was adopted. The re¬ 
cruits were received at the station with a band, were taken to 
the dining hall and given a hearty meal, a “ pep session ” was 
held, and after a fine shower, they were given good beds. These 
men woke up the next morning with a bright outlook on life 
and thought army life was a fine thing. 

Industrial organizations are learning to do the same thing. 
Many companies conduct each new man through the entire 
plant, showing him the whole process of manufacture, assembly, 
and distribution of goods. He is made to feel that he is a part 
of a great organization. In other words, the perceptual interpre¬ 
tation is enriched. What otherwise would be an unpleasant 
confusion and jumble acquires meaning, and this meaning 
makes for an intelligent attitude toward the particular work 
of the individual. 

XXVIII. Perception of Space 

If we are to react successfully to the environment in which 
we live, we must gain some conception of spatial arrange¬ 
ments, the distance of various objects from us, their relative 
size, and their relations to each other in space. Knowledge 
of these spatial relationships must be learned by individual 
experience. Needless to say, the newborn child does not know 
the qualities of the objects in his environment but must learn 


i8 4 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

them by experience. How does he learn these spatial qualities 
of his environment? 

There is little doubt that the various sense organs co¬ 
operate in the acquisition of this knowledge. Cutaneous, au¬ 
ditory, kinaesthetic, static, and visual perceptions all play their 
part. Of these, the cutaneous and visual perceptions are the 
most important. Perception of auditory space is very inac¬ 
curate and the kinaesthetic and static sensations play but minor 
parts in the perception of space. We shall, consequently, em¬ 
phasize the cutaneous, or tactile, factors and the visual factors. 

The Growth of Space Perception. Our knowledge of spa¬ 
tial relations is primarily acquired through movement of one 
sort or another. We pass our hands over objects; we reach 
from one object to another; we walk from one place to an¬ 
other and learn distances by so doing; we move our eyes from 
one part of an object to another part, and from one object to 
another, and relate these movements of our eyes to movements 
of other parts of our body. By coordinating all these into 
various combinations, we come to learn something about spatial 
values. It is commonly known that the child makes gross 
errors in his exploratory movements. He will reach for the 
moon, will make all sorts of errors in grasping for his ball or 
bottle. He will bump his head, arms, and legs violently against 
objects because he does not accurately perceive their distance. 
But by all these errors he is learning about his spatial 
environment. 

In the course of learning he is receiving impressions from 
different sense fields which are often contradictory, and he 
must continually correct these impressions. Indeed, even in 
adult life there is great disparity in our judgment of spatial 
relations as perceived under different conditions. There is, 
for example, great disparity between the size of a cavity in a 
tooth as felt by the tongue and as felt by the finger tip or seen 
by the eye. An object appears to be smaller when seen at the 
periphery of the eye than when seen at the fovea. The edge 


PERCEPTION 


185 

of a card pressed gently upon the forearm will feel shorter than 
it looks. If the finger tips are passed slowly along the edge 
of the card, it will feel longer than it looks to the eye. Such 
illustrations indicate to us the difficulties the child must en¬ 
counter when learning space relations, and yet, in spite of 
these conflicting experiences, he comes to have a fairly reliable 
notion of spatial relationships. 

Tactual Space. All parts of the skin are not equally sensi¬ 
tive. This can be readily tested by measuring on different parts 
of the body the distance by which two points must be separated 
in order to be perceived as two. Table V indicates, in milli¬ 
meters, what these distances may be in a normal person. 

Table V. Typical Differences in Two-point 
Threshold for Various Parts of the Body 


Part of Body mm. 


Tip of tongue. 1 

Undersurface of third phalanx of finger. 2 

Red part of lip. 4 

Tip of nose . 6 

Ball of thumb . 6 

Center of palm. 8 

Eyelid . 11 

Cheek . *5 

Temples . 22 

Back of head . 2 7 

Back of hand. 3 1 

Knee . 36 

Neck . 54 

Center of back . 67 


From Table V it is obvious that we must learn to relate the 
tactile impressions received from an object to the part of the 
body with which it comes in contact. Our most accurate knowl- 



















3:86 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

edge comes from those parts in which the ability to discriminate 
is greatest. These sensitive parts are roughly related to the 
degree of mobility of the part. The finger tip is more mobile 
than the center of the back; hence, if we want to learn the size 
of a new object, we gain more knowledge by touching it with 
our finger tips than by pressing it against our backs. 

Visual Space. Visual perceptions are the most important 
in our adjustment to spatial objects. To realize this, we need 
only to observe a blind man attempting to get about. He must 
listen carefully for all possible sounds, and use his cane to feel 
for objects around him. If he can orient himself at all with 
these cues, we feel that he deserves great credit for his achieve¬ 
ment. 

The various visual factors combine in very intricate ways to 
give us our total perception of spatial elements, but for pur¬ 
poses of exposition it may be well to consider them separately. 
They can for convenience be divided into two main groups: 
(a) monocular factors — those which depend upon the use of 
but one eye, and ( b ) binocular factors — those which depend 
upon the combined use of the two eyes. 

Monocular Factors. The monocular factors that may be 
distinguished are: (i) clearness of outline, (2) superposition, 
(3) shadows and shading, (4) the size of familiar objects, (5) 
the shape of familiar objects, and (6) relative motion. 

1. Clearness of outline. In our experience with various ob¬ 
jects we learn that when something is close to our eyes it is seen 
more clearly in outline than when it is at a distance. Clearness 
consequently suggests closeness, and dimness suggests remote¬ 
ness. This is clearly demonstrated when we have some un¬ 
usual condition which makes an object that is relatively near 
appear vague or dim in outline. For example, one is very likely 
to judge wrongly the distance of a car when it is seen on a foggy 
night. One who has encountered a car suddenly looming out of 
the fog realizes the nature of this error. The artist uses this 


PERCEPTION 


187 


principle to suggest perspective in his picture by making dull 
in outline the objects that he wishes to appear distant. 

2. Superposition. In the complex arrangement of objects 
which fill our environment, it is inevitable that some should be 
hidden behind others. Consequently, when we see only a part 
of an object because another object covers the rest of it, we 
learn to suppose that, the covering object is the nearer. If we 
had no way of verifying the fact of superposition, we could get 
some very striking illusions. The shadow performances that 
are commonly given on Hallowe’en are based on this principle. 
By arranging the shadows one can give the impression of per¬ 
forming an operation, cutting off a limb, removing the internal 
organs of the victim, and the like, because there is confusion 
in the perception of the witness. All the objects are thrown on 
a single screen and the witness, reading superposition into them, 
gets the illusion. 

3. Shadows and shading. We see an object, because of the 
lights which are reflected from the various surfaces of the ob¬ 
ject. The lights from various parts depend upon the source of 
light with reference to the observer. From this fact we learn 
that, a shadow indicates solidity of such a nature that the source 
of light is kept from illuminating all surfaces as strongly as the 
surface turned directly toward the light. After this is learned, 
a shadow becomes related perceptually with solidity and to 
have solidity suggested all we need is to have shadows. This is 
probably one of the most important of monocular factors and 
is used very effectively in all pictures. To be sure, this factor 
is seldom realistic enough to deceive us and we can tell a 
picture from a relief, but it does give us enough suggestion to 
enable us to tell that the artist meant the object to have solidity. 

4. Size of familiar objects. The size of the visual image 
has much to do with our perception of size. The size of the 
image depends upon the relation of the size of the object to 
the distance it is from the eye. If the image is to remain the 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


188 

same, the size of the object must increase as it is removed from 
the eye. An object of constant size produces a larger and 
larger image as it comes closer, because a larger area of the 
retina is involved. If we are familiar with the size of an object, 
we can judge the distance it is from the eye by the size of the 
visual image. If we do not know its size, we make gross errors 
in judging its distance. As we become more and more familiar 
with our surroundings, we learn the sizes of objects more thor¬ 
oughly and become better able to use the factor of relative size 
in judging spatial relations. 

5. Shape of familiar objects. Anyone who attempts to draw 
knows that the shapes he uses in his pictures of objects are not 
the same as the shapes of the objects themselves. It is the 
relationship between the shapes as made on the plane surface 
and the shapes as we know them to be by experience that gives 
us one of the ways in which to judge distance or depth. When 
we represent the wheel of a wagon as an ellipse, we know that 
the wheel is round, but its representation as an ellipse tells us 
that instead of looking at it squarely we are looking at it when 
one side is farther away from us than the other. 

6. Relative motion. When we change our position in rela¬ 
tion to our environment certain alterations appear in our per¬ 
ceptions of space: (1) the apparent sizes of the objects may 
change, (2) their superposition may be altered, and (3) their 
relative clearness may change their shading as well as the shape 
of the visual image that they cast upon the retina. Motion, 
then, is one of the most important factors in the perception of 
spatial relations of any sort; it furnishes a sort of experimental 
check upon the data obtained in other ways. If one did not 
move, he would forever be without any notion of space. He 
would never learn that he could not reach the moon or that an 
orange has solidity, and the thousand and one spatial factors 
which we all take so much for granted would be unknown to 
him. 


PERCEPTION 


189 

Binocular Factors. It is very easy to demonstrate that our 
perception of distance is much more accurate when both eyes 
are used than when one eye is used. 

With one eye closed approach some object directly and 
with a sweeping movement of the arm from one side try to 
bring the finger to a point on this object. It will be found that 
the error is greater under these conditions than when both eyes 
are open, especially if the object has little depth. The two 
main factors responsible for this increased accuracy resulting 
when both eyes are used are the convergence and divergence 
of the two eyes, and the fusion of the retinal images of the two 
eyes. 

1. Convergence. When the object observed is at a great 
distance, the angle subtended by the axis of the two eyes (the 
axis from the fovea through the lens) is very small. As the 
object approaches, the eyes converge so that the angle becomes 
larger and larger. Just how important this factor is in the per¬ 
ception of depth is hard to determine since it cannot easily be 
isolated from other factors, but it is fairly certain that it plays 
some part. 

2. Fusion of retinal images. Furthermore, if the two eyes 
are fixated on one object and a second object lies nearer to the 
eye than the one fixated or farther away than the one fixated, 
the second object will appear double. This is because the 
second object stimulates the retina either on the temporal side 
of each fovea or on the nasal side of each fovea. Ordinarily 
images seen on the temporal side of each retina or on the nasal 
side of each retina do not come from the same object. They 
do not fuse, and so they give rise to a perception of two ob¬ 
jects. If, however, they fall on the nasal side of one retina and 
on a corresponding part of the temporal side of the other retina, 
they do fuse. This fusion or lack of fusion is important in the 
perception of depth. Because of this stimulation of non-corre¬ 
sponding points, an object with some depth or solidity makes a 


190 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


□ 




RE# 

D 


\ =s= 


different image on each eye, and we come to interpret these 
disparate images as evidences of distance, depth, or solidity. 

This can be illustrated, as in Figure 35, by comparing the 
images made in the two eyes when a book is held before them. 
Hold the book in the median plane of the body, about eighteen 
inches from the eyes, with the back toward you. If you close 
your left eye, you will see the back 
of the book and a part of the front 
cover. The back cover will be to¬ 
tally invisible. Now close the right 
eye, and you will see the back of 
the book and a part of the back 
cover. Look with both eyes and 
you will see the book as a solid 
object because you see one part of 
it with one eye and another part 
with the other eye. 

The stereoscope provides a prac¬ 
tical application of this principle. 

Two pictures are taken by lenses 
spaced the same distance apart as 
the two eyes. The two pictures re¬ 
sulting are different, and represent 
the scene as imaged by the right 
and the left eyes. These two pictures are mounted on a card 
side by side. When viewed through the stereoscope, one picture 
is seen with each eye. The fusion of the two gives the observer 
the same perception of depth as he would have if he looked at 
the original scene with both his eyes. Binocular factors operate 
only when the objects are relatively near to the observer. 

Binocular Rivalry. If the two retinas are stimulated by 
fields which are so incongruous that they cannot fuse in the 
manner just described, they are not seen as a single object, and 
in place of fusion there is a rivalry between the two retinas. 


ABC 

Fig. 35. Illustrating 
Perception of Depth by 
Binocular Vision 

A, view of book as seen 
with the left eye only; B, as 
seen with the right eye only; 
C, as seen with both eyes. 













PERCEPTION 


191 


The effect of this rivalry is that first one retinal field predomi¬ 
nates and then the other, recurrently. A simple way to demon¬ 
strate this rivalry is to cover one eye with the hand and then 
face toward the bright sky. The dark and light fields will be 
seen alternately. This phenomenon can also be demonstrated 
by means of the stereoscope. The horizontal and vertical lines 
in Figure 36, when seen through the stereoscope, will alter¬ 
nately appear solid. 

If the person of normal vision looks at a large white surface 
through glasses having one red and one green lens, there will 



Fig. 36. Stereoscopic Drawing for Illustrating Binocular 
Rivalry 

be a rivalry between the two eyes and the subject will report an 
alternation between red and green. That this rivalry is the 
result of experience has been demonstrated by the testimony 
of a person who, blind at birth, later recovered her vision. 
When she looked through a pair of such glasses, she reported as 
follows: “ I see a large sheet of red cardboard with my right 
eye and a sheet of green cardboard with my left eye. They 
are both in the same place, and I am just as sure that I see 
them both at the same time as I am that I am standing here.” 
Her experiences had not been of such a nature that she was 
forced either to see a fusion of images or to experience a rivalry 
between them. She could see two disparate images at the same 
time. Thus, perception of spatial relations by the cooperation 
of the two eyes is based upon the individual’s experience. 







192 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


XXIX. Illusions 

We have shown that in our original reactions to our en¬ 
vironment we make gross errors and that the development 
of perception takes the form of a continual correction of these 
reactions to conform more nearly to actual spatial data. With 
all this readjustment or learning there is a residuum which we 
seem unable to correct, and this leads to the phenomena of 
persistent illusions. A consideration of them should convince 
us that we cannot place implicit faith in our perceptual inter¬ 
pretation of our environment. 


A 


B 


C 

Fig. 37. Vertical-Horizontal Illusions 

In A the upper dot is the same distance from the left one 
as the right one is. In B the horizontal line is the same 
length as the vertical one. In C the vertical lines are the 
same length as the horizontal distances between them. 

When perception fails to give us the true character of the 
experience perceived, we have the phenomenon of illusion. Il¬ 
lusions may arise from inadequate or incorrectly interpreted 









PERCEPTION 


193 


experience in any of the sense organs — thus, we may have 
auditory, olfactory, and tactual illusions — but the most com¬ 
mon illusions are those related to visual perception. 

Visual Illusions. Some common visual illusions are as 
follows: 

1. Vertical distances are per¬ 
ceived as greater than mathematic¬ 
ally equal horizontal distances. If 
we erect a perpendicular upon a 
horizontal line of equal length, the 
vertical line will appear longer. 
(See Figure 37.) A pole or tree is 
generally thought to be taller when 
standing than when lying on the 
ground. The height of the hat in 
Figure 38 appears to be greater 
than the breadth of the brim and 
yet they are proved equal by meas¬ 
urement. This principle has im¬ 
portant applications in architec¬ 
tural design, in the design of 
advertisements, and in landscaping. 

2. Filled or divided space ap¬ 
pears greater than empty or undi¬ 
vided space. Various forms of this illusion are illustrated in 
Figure 39. A space filled with transverse lines appears greater 
than a corresponding empty space. A space filled with heavy 
shadows appears greater than an equal open space. The illu¬ 
sion is strikingly seen in the three square areas. 

A practical application of the principle involved in this illu¬ 
sion is illustrated in Figure 40. The borders of trees along the 
drive make the driveway appear to be longer than it would 
were they absent. 

3. Contours of various sorts lead to defective perceptual in- 



Fig. 38. The Vertical- 
Horizontal Illusion Has 
a Practical Bearing 


The hat is just as high as 
the brim is wide. (From 
Robinson and Robinson, 
Readings in General Psychol¬ 
ogy. 1923. Used by permis¬ 
sion of the University of 
Chicago Press.) 







194 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


terpretations. Various forms of this principle are seen in Fig¬ 
ure 41. Two equal semicircles appear different when one of 
them is closed by a straight line. The broken circles give one 
the impression that the arcs were not drawn from the same 
center. The three incomplete squares depend partly upon 

A • -- 




Fig. 39 . Illusions of Filled and Empty Space 


The filled and empty spaces in A, B, and C are equal, but the filled 
space appears greater whether it is a straight line (A), a shaded 
area (B), or contains transverse lines (C). The three areas in D are 
the same, yet the one filled with horizontal lines appears higher than 
its width, and the one filled with vertical lines appears wider than 
its height. 

the vertical-horizontal illusory effect, partly upon the filled- 
and-empty-space illusory effect, and partly upon contrast. 
Most contour illusions involve more than one illusory 
principle. 

4. Contrasts accentuate differences. This illusion is appar¬ 
ent in many fields. Sugar tastes sweeter if taken after vinegar. 
Silence is more striking after we have been in a din. A short 







































PERCEPTION 


i 9 S 


man looks shorter when accompanied by a very tall person. 
A fat man looks fatter when in the company of an extremely 
lean person. 

A simple illustration of contrast is found in Figure 42. The 
small portions in the center of each line are equal, but the por¬ 
tion between the long arms looks much smaller than the small 
portion between the short arms. 



Fig. 40. Illustration of Perspective 

Cover up the rows of trees and note how much shorter the road 
appears. 


5. Illusions may be produced by context. In the Miiller- 
Lyer illusion, illustrated in Figure 43, the judgment of the length 
of lines, or the estimation of distance, is affected by the position 
of adjoining lines. The distance between the arrowheads is the 
same in each set of lines, but the illusion persists even when 
we know that the lines are the same. At B in the figure is a 
modified form of the Miiller-Lyer illusion. The distance be¬ 
tween the vertical lines is the same, but the space appears 
smaller when the wings added to the verticals turn toward the 































I9 6 general psychology 

intervening space, and larger when they extend away from the 
intervening space. 

Another illustration of the effect of context is shown in 
Figure 44. Here the fish may appear to be small or large de¬ 
pending upon whether it is seen in connection with a large hand 
or a tiny man. 

C (7 


A 

Fig. 41. 

Closed or connected arcs appear different from open arcs. The 
three incomplete squares A, B, and C, are equal, but the absence of 
various sides of the squares distorts our judgment of their size. 

6. The apparent direction of a line is influenced by the pres¬ 
ence of other lines. In general acute angles tend to be over¬ 
estimated and obtuse angles tend to be underestimated. A 
striking illustration of this is shown in Figure 45. The hori¬ 
zontal lines appear to be curves, but the application of a ruler 
will show that they are straight. Other examples of this illusion 
are given in Figure 46. 

Proof Readers' Illusions. The fact that it is extremly 


) 


r\ 


B C 

Contour Illusions 









PERCEPTION 


197 


dificult to read printed materiel and to detact all the errers in 
speling and punctuation is notorios. Even the most skiled 
proof-reeders are very apt to overlook an errer which is per- 
fecly obvius when atention is caled to it. There are fourteen 


Fig. 42. Effect of Contrast 
The small portions in the center of each line are equal. 

errors in the preceding two sentences. How many did you 
notice as you read them? 

The nature of the reading process and a consideration of the 
manner in which we learn to read furnish an explanation for 
these failures to detect misprints. When we first become ac¬ 
quainted with a language, we spell out words. As we become 
more accustomed to words, we see them as units, so that adult 

> - < - > 


> - < 

A 


B 

Fig. 43. Two Forms of the Muller-Lyer Illusion 

reading is based on the perception of a group of letters. The 
purpose in looking at this grouping of letters is to ascertain the 
meaning of the printed symbols. These two factors, the per¬ 
ception of a group of letters as a unit and the purpose behind 
















198 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 



Fig. 44. The Influence of Context 
(From Bennett, Psychology and Self-Development. Ginn and Co.) 

















PERCEPTION 


199 


the perception, explain the ease with which we may overlook 
a mistake in printing. When we read we see words and not 
letters. This can be demonstrated very easily. If we should 
omit the spaces between words so that we would have only a 
series of letters, itwouldbeverydifficulttoread. Didyoufinditso? 

Explanation of Illusions. Various attempts have been 
made to explain illusions. In each specific case various factors 
obtain, but in general it may be said that an illusion violates 
what we have been taught by the preponderance of our experi- 



Fig. 45. Illusion Produced by the Influence of Angles 


ence. By reacting as we usually do, we are led to expect a 
certain condition to obtain. When we can arrange materials in 
the objective world so that they violate such expectation, we 
have a persistent illusion. This factor of expectation is well 
illustrated in the size-weight illusion. If two blocks of wood of 
different size are weighted so that the smaller one weighs ex¬ 
actly the same as the larger one, the smaller one will seem to 
be much heavier than the larger one. If, however, we make 
a piece of lead equal in weight to a piece of wood, although the 
disparity in size still exists, the illusion will tend to disappear. 
It is quite likely that in the case of the two blocks of wood, 
after we have lifted the larger piece of wood, we expect the 







200 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


smaller block to be much lighter and adjust the force with 
which we lift it accordingly. It fails to rise as quickly as it 
should with this force applied, and consequently we judge it 
heavier. Such expectation is purely the result of previous ex¬ 
perience and is not due to any rational process. This is evi¬ 
denced by the fact that the illusion persists even after we know 
that the two blocks weigh the same. 



Fig. 46. Angular Illusions 

XXX. Various Forms of Perceptual 
Interpretation 

Of special interest are the perceptual factors involved in the 
judgment of time, in reading, and in the localization of sounds. 
The consideration of these indicates the improvement that 
may be achieved in some fields, as well as the limitations which 
obtain in others. The failure to recognize that in all percep-^ 
tions there is an individual element may lead to unwarranted 
confidence in our own interpretations. When a perception 
persists as real despite the fact that it is in direct viola¬ 
tion of sensory data, the individual has what is known as a 
hallucination. 

Perception of Time. Neither human beings nor lower ani¬ 
mals have any mechanism whereby they can accurately per- 









PERCEPTION 


201 


ceive temporal relations. Chickens have been known to go to 
roost during an eclipse. Their experience has taught them that 
darkness spells night, rather than a certain interval of time 
since sunrise. Quite likely a human being without mechanical 
devices to guide him would likewise be very inaccurate in his 
perception of time relations. To overcome this handicap, man 
has devised time-measuring instruments. He arranges clocks 
so that they strike the hour. He has whistles, gongs, and other 
devices to remind him of the hour. Surely all these inventions 
bear witness to the fact that man needs these things to help 
him perceive time. 

On the other hand, there are persons who report that they 
are able to retire with the thought that they will arise at a cer¬ 
tain time and are able, without sleeping any less soundly, to 
awaken at the time specified. If such persons were accurately 
checked, it is quite likely that their judgment would not be so 
accurate a$, they think. It is also likely that certain conditions, 
such as customary light and sounds, help them in arising at the 
time specified. Nevertheless, certain physiological rhythms 
and changes in the metabolism of the body may give one some 
notion of time sequences. Hunger, for example, may warn us 
that it is nearly the hour to dine. If, however, we had nothing 
but such stimuli to guide us, we should often fail to realize that 
it is mealtime, especially if we were particularly interested in 
some task. We all consider it safer to carry a watch or to have 
a clock within consulting distance. 

The ear is better able to distinguish small intervals of time 
than is any other sense organ. If one stimulus is followed 
closely by another, the ear can distinguish them as two if they 
are separated by an interval as small as io sigma (sigma equals 
one one-thousandth of a second). If the stimuli are given by 
touch, we can distinguish them as two if they are 25 sigma 
apart. If they are given by vision, they must be separated by 
an interval of between 50 and 100 sigma. These comparisons 


202 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


indicate that the ear is primarily the organ of time perceptions. 
Music, largely dependent upon sequences of sounds, is very 
pleasing to the auditor. A corresponding sequence of lights 
would be very annoying, as facing a flickering light demon¬ 
strates clearly. 

Our estimation of longer periods of time is influenced by the 
events that occur in the intervals to be estimated. If the in¬ 
terval is filled with events of an interesting nature, the time 
seems short. If the interval is unoccupied or the events are 
uninteresting, the time seems long. On the other hand, if we 
estimate time in retrospect, the situation is reversed. If we re¬ 
call a period in which many exciting things happened, that 
period seems long; a similar period in which nothing happened 
will seem brief in retrospect. Obviously, time which is filled 
with activities is much to be preferred to idle time. The oc¬ 
cupied time seems to pass more quickly and in retrospect is 
much more satisfactory than time which has been idled away. 

Perception in Reading. Photographic studies of the move¬ 
ments of the eyes in reading have demonstrated that the eyes 
do not move smoothly over the printed line but jump from 
one fixation point to another. This means that with each 
fixation point the eye must see a group of syllables or words 
as a unit, and then pass over the intervening space and see the 
next group as a unit. For lines ranging from 85 to 100 mm. in 
length, the ordinary reader makes from about three to six stops, 
and the time he stops at each fixation point ranges from 160 to 
400 sigma. He perceives one or two ordinary words at each 
pause. 

This photographic technique has been used with success in 
diagnosing cases of poor readers. It has been found that some 
persons tend to jump too far and, as a consequence, they have 
to jump back and reread the material. Some jump too short 
a distance and thus have too many stops per line. It was found 
in the case of a boy who was a particularly poor reader that, 


PERCEPTION 


203 


instead of jumping from one line back to the beginning of the 
next, he would traverse each line from right to left before 
starting to read it. When this was discovered, the boy ex¬ 
plained that he always looked over the line to see whether there 
were any words he did not know. Certainly going backward 
over the line is not the most favorable way to learn the mean¬ 
ings of words or phrases. 

The facts discovered in these investigations have revolu¬ 
tionized the teaching of reading. Instead of emphasizing the 
letters in a word, the teacher now presents the word as a whole. 
The child often recognizes the word and knows its meaning 
before he knows how to spell it. This method may make poor 
spellers, but it makes good readers, and after all most of us 
are more interested in reading than spelling. 

Improvement in reading can take various forms: (1) one 
can train himself to perceive more material with each fixation, 
and thus make fewer stops per line; (2) he can increase tjie 
accuracy with which he makes his fixation pauses; and (3) he 
can emphasize the extraction of meaning from the material 
rather than the mere mechanical process of going over the 
printed symbols. The printed symbols are designed to convey 
meanings, but unless one is on his guard against it, he may get 
into the habit of seeing the symbols merely as so many printed 
characters without giving due regard to the meaning behind 
them. 

Auditory Localization. Anyone who has tried to find a 
knock or squeak in his automobile will bear witness to the 
difficulty of localizing a sound either with respect to the direction 
from which it comes or its distance from the observer. Experi¬ 
ments in the laboratory demonstrate that we are inherently un¬ 
able to localize sounds accurately. In attempting to isolate the 
factors upon which localization of sound depends, there has 
been disagreement but it may be worth while to survey these 
findings. 


204 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Our judgment of the distance of sounds is based upon their 
intensity and upon their tonal complexity. The intensity, of 
course, increases as the source approaches us; but this factor 
alone would give us a very poor estimate, for very weak sounds 
can be produced in close proximity to our ears. The sound 
that is near, in addition to being more intense, is likely to be 
more complex. Vibrating bodies emit a series of overtones of 
varying strength. As the vibrating body recedes, these over¬ 
tones are the first to disappear and finally only the fundamental 
tone is audible. For example, the whistle of a locomotive, 
heard at a distance, is hollow and flat, but, when heard near at 
hand, it is shrill, harsh, and piercing because the partials and 
overtones which have become audible add to its complexity. A 
practical application of these facts is found in ventriloquism. 
The ventriloquist simulates the sort of tone one would hear 
were the source of the sound at a distance, and the hearer gets 
the characteristic illusion. 

Judgment of the direction from which a sound comes is still 
more difficult. The body of evidence at hand indicates that 
what sense of direction we do have is based upon the difference 
between the stimulation of the two ears. One group of experi¬ 
ments seems to indicate that this difference is one of intensity; 
another group seems to indicate that it is a difference in phase. 
Confirmation of the latter group is found in the fact that when 
a sound is produced in the median plane, it cannot be localized 
at all. When the sound is not in the median plane, judgment 
is more accurate but still very faulty. 

Hallucinations. Throughout our study of perception we 
have seen how the experience of the individual determines his 
interpretation of the objective data which he receives through 
his sense organs; but in all the instances we have studied, the 
objective data played an important part in such perceptual in¬ 
terpretation. In some instances the objective data greatly over¬ 
rule the individual elements in interpretation; in others the 


PERCEPTION 


205 


individual elements predominate. We come now to consider 
instances where the perceptual material is almost wholly the 
product of the individual’s reaction and depends very little, or 
not at all, on the sensory data. When the perception is of this 
order, it is called a hallucination. 

If a man says that he hears a voice calling him names and 
everyone else in the vicinity fails to hear any such voice, it is 
evident that the man is having an individual experience. To 
the outsider this is nonsense, but to the one having such a 
hallucinatory experience it is just as real as though a person 
actually spoke to him. He hears the voice although he cannot 
see the speaker. 

The effects of such an experience may be of different sorts. 
The person may continue to insist that someone spoke to him, 
in spite of the evidence that no one was around. He may in¬ 
sist that he has special powers, that the voice was carried to 
him by mysterious forces, that everyone else is lacking in a 
peculiar gift which he possesses, or he may advance some other 
explanation. In other instances the person experiencing a 
hallucination may admit that it is probably an individual ex¬ 
perience, and accept the evidence from others that no one is 
around. This latter type of reaction is the rational way to treat 
such an experience. 

Few of us are likely to encounter a marked case of hallucina¬ 
tion either in ourselves or in another, but the fact that this 
situation may exist demonstrates a principle that should be 
recognized in our study of perceptions. The rational man 
admits that his perceptions may be in error. He is willing to 
check up the interpretations of one sense by evidence from an¬ 
other. If he experiences contradictory auditory and visual per¬ 
ceptions, he knows that one or the other must be in error, and 
he checks them with other facts to determine which one is cor¬ 
rect. He may do this by measuring, verifying, using other sen¬ 
sory data, or asking others what they have observed. If he 


206 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


perceives one thing and all, or even a few, of those around him 
contend that they perceive something different, he is willing to 
admit that they may be right and that he may be wrong. 

Usually the man who contends that his hallucinatory experi¬ 
ences are the correct ones and who insists that, despite all ex¬ 
ternal evidence, all other persons are wrong is considered men¬ 
tally unbalanced. The judgment that he is unbalanced does 
not arise from the fact that his experiences have led him to a 
unique interpretation, but from the fact that he foolishly be¬ 
lieves that he alone is right, or that objective facts are wrong 
if they conflict with his individual perceptions. Perceptions 
grow through reacting to our environment, and where one re¬ 
acts, he is sure to make some errors. The recognition of these 
errors is part of the learning process. The wise man admits that 
he may be in error even in such a basic psychological experi¬ 
ence as the immediate interpretation of sensory data; that is, in 
his perceptions. 

The great lesson, then, to learn from a study of perception is 
that we interpret things in terms of our own experience and 
since our experience may be unique, or at least somewhat dif¬ 
ferent from that of others, it is not fitting for any one person 
to insist that what he has perceived must be correct; he needs 
to be tolerant of the perceptual interpretations of his fellows. 

Selected References 

Dashiell, J. F., Fundamentals of Objective Psychology, Chapter 
XIII. Houghton Mifflin, 1928. 

Gates, A. I., Elementary Psychology, Revised Edition, Chapter 
XIII. Macmillan, 1925. 

Woodworth, R. S., Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter XVII. Holt, 
1934 - 


CHAPTER VII 

LEARNING 

XXXI. The Nature of Learning 

In a broad sense learning may be regarded as the modifica¬ 
tions which result from experience. These may be very simple 
or extremely complex, the most complex being found only in 
man. These modifications serve the function of enabling the 
organism to adjust to its surroundings. To adapt well is to 
learn well. 

Universality of Learning. Anyone who has had experience 
in driving a nail knows only too well that, if the nail bends, it is 
generally better to pull it out and drive another. In the proc¬ 
ess of bending and straightening, the iron in the nail is an¬ 
nealed, thereby making the nail more difficult to drive. We 
may say that the nail has learned or formed the habit of 
bending. 

Most of us have, in looking over our last, year’s wardrobe, 
decided that some old suit of clothes is good enough for some 
more wear. But after we have had the suit cleaned and 
pressed, we have generally been disappointed to find that it 
will not hold its shape. When it first came back from the 
cleaner’s, the creases stood out and the old wrinkles were all 
gone. But in a short time the old wrinkles were back. The 
clothes had “ broken ” and it was impossible to make them 
hold their shape. 

A shrub that has been bent by the wind or snow never stands 
quite so straight as before, and it is always more easily bent 
again. A dog finds a hole under the fence in the yard, crawls 


207 


208 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


through the hole, and forms the habit of getting out of the 
yard by crawling under the fence. A boy forms the habit of 
brushing his teeth each morning before breakfast. 

These are all examples of learning. 

Characteristics of Learning. What then is learning? We 
find certain tendencies in nature like the bending of the nail. 
This tendency depends upon a certain plasticity or modifiabil¬ 
ity of the structure of the material — the capacity to show 
permanent effects of certain forces acting upon it. This modi¬ 
fication is retained and forms the basis of a new type of reac¬ 
tion. This illustrates the essential nature of learning. In its 
broadest sense it includes modifications in the inanimate as 
well as the animate kingdom. The difference is one of degree 
rather than one of kind. But since there is so much greater 
modifiability in animals and since we are particularly concerned 
with animals, we shall restrict the use of the term to this nar¬ 
rower field. 

Human Learning Centered in the Synapse. The possi¬ 
bilities of modifiability are largely in the nervous system. 
There may be some modification in the muscles as a result of 
learning, but the greater part takes place in the nervous sys¬ 
tem. Various theories have been proposed to account for the 
changes that occur in habit formation. The most generally 
accepted theory is that a change takes place in the synapse. 
It is assumed that there is a resistance to the passage of a 
nervous current at each synapse. In responses of the unlearned 
type the resistance is relatively lower than it is in other path¬ 
ways. As a result of practice, however, other synaptic resist¬ 
ances may be lowered, so that they too become regular path¬ 
ways. The lowering of synaptic resistances is possible because 
of the modifiability and retentivity of the nervous system. 
Modifiability and retentivity are the two significant character¬ 
istics of the nervous, system which form the basis for all learn¬ 
ing and habit formation. 


LEARNING 


209 


Comparison of Learning with Innate Behavior. Learning 
differs from an innate response in that an innate response is 
ready to function without previous experience, while in learn¬ 
ing, the neural pathway must be made more pervious as a re¬ 
sult of practice. Let us now consider how learning takes place. 

In Chapter V we considered the native basis of behavior. 
All animals are born with certain innate capacities for response. 
In the lowest forms of animal life these innate capacities are 
about the only ones the animal has. By this we mean that 
the animal never learns many new forms of behavior beyond 
those with which it is born. For example, the amoeba has 
certain forms of behavior, which we call tropisms, that impel it 
to go toward certain things and away from others. The amoeba 
will seek neutral temperatures and places where the light is not 
too strong. It will approach, when in need of food, certain 
substances. If these substances are noxious it will withdraw 
from them. But it would be a long, long task, if not an im¬ 
possible one, to teach the amoeba to avoid a certain kind of 
substance without first approaching it each time. In contrast 
with the amoeba a chick will soon learn to avoid certain kinds 
of caterpillars which are not edible. After a few unfortunate 
experiences with such caterpillars, the chick will go about its 
feeding, never pecking at the disagreeable worms. The chick 
has learned to reject certain substances as food. It also learns 
the desirability of certain other substances as foods. 

The innate traits may be relatively simple, as in the amoeba, 
or they may be complex. As an example of a complex native 
trait let us consider the behavior of a bee. Wonderful stories 
are told of the organization of a hive of bees. Each worker 
has certain, tasks to perform. Some are water carriers, others are 
gatherers of honey or wax, some act as servants for the queen, 
and others as a bodyguard for the hive. If we follow any bee 
during its activities, we will find that its behavior is very com¬ 
plex. It responds to certain kinds of stimuli positively, to 


2I0 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

other types negatively, and to some types not at all. For ex¬ 
ample, in gathering honey a bee will go to flowers which are 
rich in nectar, it will avoid certain poisonous flowers, and other 
plants it will ignore. Likewise, the bees that build the comb 
react to the substance to which the comb is to be attached by 
making the comb conform to the size and shape of the cavity to 
be filled. Reactions of this kind may be considered adaptations. 
Yet the bee to-day, so far as our evidence goes, builds its comb 
just as bees did in the time of the Pharaohs. Furthermore, 
young bees seemingly build just, about as good combs as old 
bees; that is, the young bees do not have to learn how to build 
a comb. 

Besides adapting itself to the place where the comb is to be 
built, the bee must also adapt itself to the water and food 
supply of the vicinity. It seems quite reasonable to consider 
these adaptations as learning. If they are so considered, learn¬ 
ing may be defined as some modification in the behavior of an 
organism as a result of experience which is retained for at least 
a certain period of time by the organism. 

It is this degree of adaptability which differentiates the 
higher from the lower organisms. If the environment of one 
of the lower organisms is greatly changed, the organism is un¬ 
able to meet the change and will die. In the higher organisms, 
if such a change occurs, the animal will either move to another 
situation or change the conditions. For example, if the tem¬ 
perature conditions of an amoeba change too rapidly or too 
frequently, the amoeba will die. In a similar situation a man 
will build a shelter, put out the fire, or move to another climate. 
Man’s versatility is his salvation. 

It should be clear at the beginning of a study of learning 
that inherited or innate behavior forms the basis for all learn¬ 
ing. This innate behavior may be tropistic, reflexive, instinc¬ 
tive, or random. The process by which these types of innate 
behavior are modified is essentially the same in any case. The 


LEARNING 


2II 


greatest difference is in the degree of difficulty of modification, 
which is roughly in inverse order to the way in which we have 
listed them. 

XXXII. Motivation in Learning 

The first great question in learning is why we learn. As 
has been pointed out, many of the lower organisms learn little 
or nothing. Man on the other hand learns much. Some men 
learn much more than others, some learn one thing and some 
another. Why all this learning and why all these differences in 
learning? 

Why We Learn. There seem to be two things that deter¬ 
mine the amount of learning that takes place in any case. The 
first of these causes is motive. The second is capacity. 

In some of the preceding chapters we have considered the 
reasons why we react. So long as the innate forms of response 
are successful no learning is necessary. When there is some 
drive present and the innate forms of response do not meet the 
situation, then learning will take place. These drives are vari¬ 
ously called motives, interests, and purposes. In considering 
these different drives it must be understood that they are not 
always conscious. Sometimes they are obscure, and certainly 
in lower animals we do not believe they are conscious. Only in 
man, and probably not always in man, are the motives, inter¬ 
ests, or purposes known by the learner. There is what has been 
called unintentional learning. We overhear some one say that 
Prospect Avenue is four blocks west of Central Park. The next 
day some one asks us if we know where Prospect Avenue is. 
The answer is given on the basis of what we unintentionally 
overheard yesterday. The child probably does not try to learn 
to talk in any very purposeful way. Yet there is a certain 
need, a certain maladjustment which precedes all learning. 

Innate Drives. These needs either may be something in¬ 
nate or they may be learned. The instincts and emotions are 


212 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


common innate drives to learning. Hunger is one such drive. 
Much has been discovered about learning by the study of the 
lower animals, especially the white rat. The most common 
motive for causing the rat to run in a maze is hunger. A white 
rat is ordinarily fed once a day. If the rat before feeding is 
placed in a maze with several different pathways, only one of 
which leads to a feed box, the rat will be likely to start wan¬ 
dering about. Although the rat will stop from time to time and 
make many mistakes, eventually it will get to the food. The 
next day the rat will make about as many errors as the first 
day, but there will be a little more definiteness in its actions. 
After a few days the rat learns where the food is and will go 
to it with only a few errors. If during the learning the rat is 
fed before it is placed in the maze, it will be likely to lie down 
and take a nap rather than run. This illustrates the fact that 
hunger is the motive which causes the rat to be restless. 

There is one group of psychologists who believe that rats, 
like other animals, have insight in their learning and that this 
insight into the problem is a large factor in initiating the learn¬ 
ing. There probably is a certain appropriateness in the body 
activity the animal manifests. It will not react to everything 
in the environment, but to things which may bring desired re¬ 
sults. However, most of the insight comes after the rat has 
made some initial responses. Insight comes as the learning 
proceeds rather than before learning. 

The infant becomes hungry. This causes a general restless¬ 
ness. This restlessness becomes greater, and if food is not 
forthcoming crying ensues. These early types of activity are 
not very definitely directed toward any goal. However, if 
some object touches the cheek or lips of the infant, sucking 
movements are set up. Gradually the child learns more effi¬ 
ciently the acts of food-getting and it learns to distinguish food¬ 
giving from non-food-giving objects. Later it learns how to 
use its hands to bring food to the mouth. As it grows up it 


LEARNING 


213 

must learn to distinguish good foods from bad foods. For most 
men much of their adult years must be spent in securing means 
for the purchase of food for themselves and their dependents. 
This illustrates how hunger functions as a motivating factor in 
learning. 

Thirst, fears, and sex are other urges which demand satis¬ 
faction. The child and adult must learn methods of satisfying 
these demands. The ways in which this learning takes place 
vary from one person to another and from time to time, but 
the same general principles hold in all cases. 

Acquired Motives. Often the drives may be acquired. 
The boy may be motivated to play a good game of football. 
He develops interest in the game and sets about learning how 
to play it. This drive may carry through long days of hard 
training, and other drives may enter to intensify or break down 
interest in the game. Rivalry, love for the coach and school, 
and desire for success are other motivating factors which help 
to sustain him. 

The boy may decide to become a doctor. The causes for this 
may be very complex. One important feature may be his ap¬ 
preciation of some friend who is a doctor. Service to society 
may be a motive. These motives must be strong enough to 
carry him through college, medical school, and one or two years 
of interneship before he is ready to begin practice. 

Capacity to Learn Is Also Necessary. Strong as a mo¬ 
tive may be, it alone is not enough. A boy may have the most 
intense desire to go to the movie but his desire will not get him 
there. The girl without musical ability may practice diligently 
all her life and not become a great pianist. Sufficient motiva¬ 
tion will carry us to unusual heights of success because we per¬ 
severe, but it will not carry us beyond our physical or mental 
limitations. The wise person finds out what he wants to do, 
whether he can do it or not, and if so he then sets about 
doing it. 


214 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Let us now turn to the ways in which new forms of behavior 
are acquired. We shall first discuss how new ways of re¬ 
sponding are acquired and then how these new forms become 
permanent. 

XXXIII. Methods of Learning 

There are four ways in which original nature is modified. 
They are: '(i) substitute stimulus, (2) substitute response, 

(3) combination, and (4) fixation of random movements. 

We shall consider each in turn, remembering that they are 
only adaptations of the principle of the conditioned response, 
as described in Chapter II. 

Substitute Stimulus. In this type of learning one stimulus 
is substituted for another. In terms of the nervous system this 
means that we have originally two stimuli, one adequate to 
produce a certain response and the other inadequate. When 
both stimuli are presented simultaneously, the two aroused 
nervous currents tend to drain into one common pathway. In 
this case it is the pathway leading to the response innately con¬ 
nected with the adequate stimulus. The effect of repeated 
simultaneous stimulation is to lower the resistance between 
the inadequate stimulus and the response called forth by the 
adequate stimulus so that later the second, as well as the first, 
stimulus will produce the same response. The effect of such 
training is illustrated in Figure 47. Pavlov’s experiment in 
teaching the dog to respond to the ringing of a bell by an in¬ 
crease in the flow of saliva is a good example of learning by 
substitute stimulus. 

But we do not have to limit ourselves to such seemingly arti¬ 
ficial examples as this to illustrate the principle of substitute 
stimulus. Learning to talk is a matter of substituting certain 
sounds for the object. When the cat comes into the room 
with the small child, the mother begins to say “ kitty, kitty.” 
When the cat has gone out of the room, the mother can say 


LEARNING 


215 


“ kitty, kitty ” and produce the same response in the child as 
the cat, did. The spoken word has been substituted for the 
animal itself. Furthermore, the child soon learns to produce 
the sounds himself and to use these sounds as substitutes for 
the object. A large part of his second and third years are taken 
up with the problems of substituting spoken symbols for ob¬ 
jects, and in learning to use these symbols in talking and 
thinking. 

When the child goes to school, he is confronted with the fur¬ 
ther problem of learning to substitute certain printed symbols 


After Practice 


Before Practice 



Fig. 47. The Mechanism of Substitute Stimulus 

S t naturally elicits R r S 2 has no specific response. After 
practice, during which and S 2 have occurred together, 

S 2 becomes an adequate stimulus to elicit R r 

for his spoken words. The teacher prints the word kitty on the 
blackboard or shows it to him in a book and tells him that this 
is kitty. He must learn these visual symbols as substitutes for 
his vocal symbols. 

Later when he studies a foreign language, he must learn 
other spoken and printed symbols as substitutes for his Eng¬ 
lish words. 

The principle of the substitute stimulus has many practical 
applications. The public speaker and the salesman soon learn 
to use substitute stimuli. Direct methods often do not work. 
The better life-insurance salesmen do not talk much about 
accidents and death when selling insurance. Accidents and 
death have come to have too many repellent associations to lead 
to the positive results the salesman wants. 





216 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Slogans, trade names, and patented signatures are devices for 
indirectly suggesting responses. They are substitute stimuli, 
standing for the real article. In some cases a word comes to 
stand for a whole class of articles. The word kodak not only 
stands for the small cameras made by the Eastman Kodak 
Company but also for all small cameras. 

Substitute Response. Another way in which original reac¬ 
tions are modified is by substitute response. In many cases it 
happens that the closest attachment between stimulus and re¬ 
sponse does not produce the most desirable response. Other 
responses may be made which are found to be more satisfac¬ 
tory. These responses are then connected with the stimulus as 
a substitute response. 

In boxing, for example, the normal thing to do when some 
object, such as a fist, is seen rapidly approaching the face is to 
shut the eyes and dodge. But a boxer soon discovers that this 
is not a very effective type of response. He is not able to 
dodge quickly enough to avoid the blow. He is likely to find 
by experience or training that it is more efficient to put the 
hands up for a defense, block the blow with the hand, keep 
the eyes open, and return the blow. Here we see that keeping 
the eyes open is substituted for closing the eyes, and a guard 
position for the hand is substituted or added to the dodging. 
Correct positions and reactions in athletics and all skilled ac¬ 
tivities are generally substitute responses. The principle of the 
substitute response is illustrated in Figure 48. 

The small child learns to substitute other responses for cry¬ 
ing. Adults have all sorts of substitute responses in social 
situations. In court we swear the witness in an attempt to pre¬ 
vent his giving substitute responses to the questions asked. 

Negative Adaptation. The elimination of unsuccessful, 
wrong, or fruitless activity is as much a part of learning as the 
formation of successful responses. Such elimination is also a 
form of substitute response. 


LEARNING 


217 


In learning of the type we have been describing heretofore, 
a certain stimulus is accompanied or immediately followed by 
a specific situation. In learning the learner discovers a re¬ 
sponse which satisfies this situation. If, instead of a stimulus 
being accompanied by a specific situation, it is accompanied or 
followed first by one situation and then by another, no single 
response can be adopted. For example, when a man begins to 
work in a noisy factory, the noise is a stimulus to activity. 
Since, however, there is first one and then another sequence to 


Before Practice After Practice 



Rs 


Fig. 48. The Mechanism of Substitute Response 

S 2 , which is strongly connected with R 2 , becomes con¬ 
nected with R t instead because of its association with 
Si-Rr 

the noise, no specific response will be formed. At first general 
nervousness may result. Later the worker may become nega¬ 
tively adapted to the noise. 

In much of our learning there are many stimuli which first 
attract the attention of the learner. Since these have no signifi¬ 
cance, he tends to disregard them. The automobile mechanic 
learns to listen for certain significant sounds in a car while it 
is in motion. All other noises are neglected. The doctor learns 
to look for certain significant signs of diseases. All the hun¬ 
dred and one normal bodily functions he must learn to neglect 

when he is looking for disease. 

Another type of negative adaptation occurs when there is a 
specific situation present in connection with a stimulus. If the 
response selected fails to give satisfaction, no response at all 





218 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


may be found more satisfactory. A spider’s web was touched 
by a vibrating tuning fork. The spider immediately ran to 
cover. The experiment was repeated over and over again. 
Finally, since no harm came to the spider, it became negatively 
adapted to the tuning fork and paid no attention to it. 

In a third type of negative adaptation there is an innate con¬ 
nection between stimulus and response. If, however, the re¬ 
sponse brings annoyance rather than satisfaction, the response 
will tend to be eliminated. If some other response is dis¬ 
covered, it will be substituted; if not, the stimulus will gradu¬ 
ally fail to elicit any response. A bright light has great interest 
for the child. If upon reaching for the light, the child is burned, 
it will not take many repetitions for him to become negatively 
adapted to reaching for bright lights. 

Combination. Another form of modification of responses, 
or type of learning, is by combination of responses. Com¬ 
plex acts are made up of simple acts. This combination 
may be a parallel combination or a serial combination, but 
more commonly it is both. The parts which are combined 
may be either innate responses or responses learned by any of 
the methods already described. 

All skilled acts are the result of combination. No complex 
movement is taken bodily from any previous act; it is always 
a mosaic with its parts taken from any and generally from 
various sources. The problem of combination is not only one 
of the selection of the parts which are to be combined into the 
larger movement, but also of how they are to be combined. 
The serial arrangement of the parts is very significant. It, is 
just as important that any part of the act be performed at the 
right time and with the proper emphasis as that it be performed 
at all. A step in a dance must come at the right place and with 
the correct tempo. The serial order in starting a car is gen¬ 
erally important. In laying a brick in a wall there are many 
steps that must be performed and, for the most part, these 


LEARNING 


219 


must be in a certain order. It is just as serious an error to do 
the right thing at the wrong time as it is to do the wrong thing 
at the right time. In fact the statement just made is para¬ 
doxical, for what otherwise is “ right ” or “ wrong ” fails to be 
right or wrong when it is out of proper order. 

In learning to skate certain movements of walking are 
combined with other body postures plus certain instinctive re¬ 
actions against falling. Playing a pipe organ is another good 
example of combination. One who has never played a pipe 
organ can only marvel at the intricate movements which are 
made in playing. Often one hand is playing on one manual 
of keys while the other is playing another manual, and all the 
time the feet, are playing the bass notes. At intervals one hand 
or the other must quickly manipulate the stops. This must 
all be done at a certain tempo and rhythm, as well as with the 
right touch to the keys. 

Fixation of Random Movements. Yet another method by 
which new responses are acquired is through the fixation of 
random movements. A random movement is one which is 
made, not as a specific response to a definite stimulus, but 
rather as a response to general stimulation. Processes of diges¬ 
tion, the pressure of the air, and other external and internal 
stimulation produce nervous currents for which there are no 
specific outlets. They flow out over one or another motor path¬ 
way in more or less chance order, depending upon whichever 
factors that may change the direction from one pathway to 
another happen to be operating. 

The baby, when awake, is almost always moving about. His 
legs and arms are in motion almost constantly. Some bright 
object may be presented to him. This produces a stimulation, 
but he has no ready-made type of response. Instead of making 
the specific response of reaching, the baby kicks, squirms, and 
frantically waves his hands. These movements are not direct 
responses, or at least they do not appear as such to the ob- 


220 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


server. They are what psychologists call random movements. 

Some of such random movements produce a result which is 
agreeable to the baby. When the bright object is held before 
him, he may accidentally touch it. This gives him pleasure. 
The next time it is held before him, random movements again 
occur. But the results of the earlier success, by a method to 
be described later, tend to make the pathway which produced 
the earlier success more permeable. Therefore there is a greater 
tendency for the nervous current to pass over this pathway than 
over the others. This difference in resistance is not great for 
the first few trials, but as more and more responses are made, 
the course along the given pathway tends to become more 
deeply seated. The result is a learned type of response. In 
this manner many random responses become fixed into useful 
acts. 


XXXIV. The Laws of Learning 

We have thus far accounted for the ways in which new 
types of reactions are acquired. The problem still remains to 
show how these new forms of behavior are fixated into routine 
acts. A few simple laws which account for this fixation 
process are: the laws of (i) use, (2) disuse, (3) effect, (4) 
primacy, (5) recency, and (6) vividness. 

Primary Laws of Learning. The first three laws of learn¬ 
ing — use, disuse, and effect — are known as the primary laws. 

1. The law of use. The law of use may be stated as follows: 
Of two neural pathways, other things being equal, the one 
which has functioned most often will be most ready to function 
again. In other words, practice facilitates response. 

An interesting illustration of the functioning of the law of 
use is presented in the learning of typewriting. Professor Book 
studied the improvement in rate of typewriting as a result of 
practice. Figure 49 shows the rate of such improvement from 
day to day. In this connection it is worth pointing out that in 


LEARNING 


221 


general the most rapid improvement comes at the beginning of 
the learning process. After a time the law of diminishing re¬ 
turns generally functions, producing the typical negatively ac¬ 
celerated learning curve. 

Although the form of the curve 
tends to be constant, the rate at 
which progress occurs varies for 
different persons and for the same 
persons when the material is of 
different degrees of difficulty. 

Furthermore, it is not to be under¬ 
stood from this description that 
the rate of improvement is con¬ 
stant and the curve of progress 
regular. Variations in rate occur 
from day to day causing fluctua¬ 
tions in the curve. Often in the 
learning there is a period during 
which there is little or no progress. 

These are called plateaus. These 
may be caused by a temporary loss 
of interest in the problem or by the fact that progress may de¬ 
pend upon acquiring a certain efficiency in some simpler proc¬ 
ess before some more difficult part can be learned. If learning 
is continued far enough, a final plateau is reached beyond 
which progress is impossible. This is called the physiological 
limit. 

Many criticisms have been leveled against the law of use. It 
has been claimed that more use, or exercise as it is sometimes 
called, often does not result in learning. If the child’s hand 
is passively moved over the correct path for making a letter, 
little or no learning will result. If the child merely practices 
with no interest in learning, little improvement will occur. This 
topic will receive further discussion under the law of effect. 



Fig. 49. Curve of Im¬ 
provement in Type¬ 
writing 


This is a typical learning 
curve in that there is a rapid 
initial rise with a falling off in 
rate of improvement as prac¬ 
tice continues. (From Book, 
The Psychology of Skill. 
Gregg, 1926.) 




222 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


\ 


\ 


40 - 




2. The law of disuse. The law of disuse is really the re¬ 
ciprocal of the law of use. Other things being equal, a neural 
pathway which has not functioned for some time offers more 
resistance than one which has functioned more recently. This 
is the principle which underlies forgetting. Ebbinghaus, a 

German psychologist, first 
made a careful study of the 
rate of forgetting. He used 
nonsense syllables and found 
that about 6o per cent of 
them were forgotten in the 
first twenty-four hours. The 
rate of forgetting became less 
rapid for longer periods. 
Others have studied the rate 
of forgetting with sense ma¬ 
terial, such as poetry. The 
same general principles hold 
with this type of material, ex¬ 
cept that the rate of forget¬ 
ting is less rapid. (See 
Figure 50.) Motor learning, 
such as typing, is retained 
longer than most types of 
verbal learning. 

3. The law of effect. By the law of effect we mean that a 
response which produces a satisfying state tends to be re¬ 
peated, and one which produces an annoying state tends not to 
be repeated. Although it may be very difficult to explain why 
the result, or state, which follows an act can have any effect 
upon the repetition of the act, the fact remains that it, does. 

Many practical experiences in everyday life bear testimony 
to this law. The child who likes arithmetic or piano playing, 
other things being equal, learns most rapidly. How slowly the 


0 5 10 15 20 25 30 

Number of Days 

Fig. 50. Curves of Forget¬ 
ting for Different Types 
of Material 

Ebbinghaus used nonsense syl¬ 
lables; Bean used series of let¬ 
ters; Magneff used poetry. 





LEARNING 


223 


child learns who has to be driven to practice each day! The 
same thing holds for adults. The woman who does not like to 
cook is not likely to make a good cook if she can find something 
else to do which she prefers. She will get a job and hire a cook. 

There are several experiments which have proved that this 
law holds with lower animals as well as with man. Kuo con¬ 
structed a maze for rats in which there were four different 
paths from the entrance to the food box. All of these paths 
led to the food, but in one pathway an electric shock was ad¬ 
ministered to the rat, and in another pathway the rat was con¬ 
fined for twenty seconds before it was allowed to proceed. 
There was no punishment or confinement in the other path¬ 
ways, but one was three or four times as long as the other. The 
rats were started so that they had equal chances to go in any 
one of the four runways. At first they selected each pathway 
by chance about the same number of times, but in later runs 
they learned to avoid the path where they received the shock. 
Later still they ceased to go in the path which led to confine¬ 
ment. The long pathway was eliminated last. Gradually the 
rats had learned to get to the food by the shortest pathway 
without any punishment. 

Recently the author performed a similar experiment in which 
there were four simple pathways, all of equal difficulty. No 
punishments were administered. But if the rat went into any 
pathway but the one which led to the food box, it was imme¬ 
diately returned to the starting point. If the rat, went along the 
right pathway, it was fed. If the law of use fully explained 
all learning, the rats in this experiment would never learn to 
choose one pathway to the exclusion of the others. Yet the 
rats did learn to go to the box where they received food, and 
they soon went along this pathway to the exclusion of all the 
others. 

The same thing holds for man. The salesman in making his 
rounds soon learns to go to the customers who buy and to 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


224 

eliminate those who do not buy. His only reason for returning 
to some who do not buy is the hope that they may become 
purchasers. 

The law of effect is further illustrated in cases where the first 
experience in any situation is either very pleasant or very an¬ 
noying. A child who has been frightened once by a dog may 
always be afraid of dogs. The effect of the one experience 
teaches the child to fear dogs. A person’s like or dislike for 
another person generally depends upon some memory or experi¬ 
ence in connection with the first meeting. These examples 
illustrate that one experience may have a profound effect in 
the learning process — an effect that cannot be explained on 
the basis of the law of use alone. 

Professor Dunlap performed an interesting experiment which 
proves the converse of this law. He found that he rather con¬ 
sistently made mistakes in typing the word the, writing it hte. 
Dunlap deliberately wrote hte for about a page. Thereafter 
he found that he never spelled the word incorrectly. He did 
not enjoy the practice in writing the word incorrectly. As a 
result, practice with annoying consequences, instead of strength¬ 
ening the process, caused its elimination. 1 This experiment 
leads to skepticism concerning much of our drill work in school 
and out. Drill with dissatisfaction may actually prove harmful. 

Secondary Laws of Learning. In addition to the three 
primary laws of learning there are three others — the laws of 
primacy, recency, and vividness — which are called secondary 
laws. 

1. The law of primacy. First experiences are more likely to 
be retained than later ones. This holds whether one is learning 
a list of nonsense syllables, a poem, or facts in an outline. The 
first item has a better chance of being retained than others in 
the body of the material. The same principle holds when 

1 It should be stated that this is not the explanation proposed by 
Professor Dunlap. 


LEARNING 


225 


taken in broader perspective. An experience of childhood, 
other things being equal, has a better chance of being remem¬ 
bered than an adult experience. 

2. The law of recency. Recent experiences are more likely 
to be retained than remote ones. This seems to contradict the 
principle of primacy, but they are supplementary rather than 
contradictory. You will be more likely to retain a memory of 
your first “ date ” than of subsequent dates. You will also 
remember the last one more clearly than intermediate ones. 
You can remember the first as well as the last word in a list 
to be memorized better than those in the middle of the list,. 
Whether the first or the last word excels cannot definitely be 
stated. 

3. The law of vividness. Other things being equal, a vivid 
experience is more likely to be retained than those which are 
less vivid. A person may remember a train or automobile 
wreck which occurred some time ago as though it happened but 
yesterday. Similarly, certain events, such as graduation or a 
hard contest, stand out in our memories very clearly. 


XXXV. Kinds of Learning 

Because learning covers so wide a range from the simple 
forms to the complex ones of adult human learning, it may ap¬ 
pear that the simple and complex forms are quite different in 
their essential nature. As a matter of fact, all forms depend 
essentially upon a permanent change in the nervous system 
through experience. Classified according to complexity, there 
are four types of learning: (1) learning by trial and error, (2) 
learning by observation, (3) learning by association, and (4) 
ideational learning. 

Trial-and-Error Learning. The simplest type of learning 
is the trial-and-error learning so characteristic of the lower ani¬ 
mals. This type may likewise appear in the learning of children 


226 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


as well as in some forms of adult learning. The essential nature 
of a trial-and-error reaction is that it is done before we know 
what we are doing or why we have done it. 

The animal attacks a new problem with little insight into its 
nature or the methods by which it may be solved. The cat 
confined in a edge does not deliberate, but tries one and then 
another method of escape. Man uses a similar method in 
much of his learning. This we call the trial-and-error method. 
Chance success gives the right response, and then by a process 
of elimination the wrong methods are dropped. Improvement 
generally takes place during practice in the method adopted, 
and is brought about by the elimination of faulty or poor ele¬ 
ments in the process and by the substitution of better methods, 
discovered by chance. 

The solution of a puzzle illustrates this type of learning in 
man. A good puzzle is so designed that it deceives the person 
who attempts to solve it by leading him to trials of the wrong 
sort. If the person attacks it with little insight into its essential 
features and without logical analysis, he fumbles with it more or 
less at random until, to his amazement, it is solved. If he does 
not observe the movements that were the means of solving it, 
he may require just as much fumbling for the second solution 
as for the first. Usually the second solution, even if the first 
solution was a chance one, eliminates some movements which 
were not immediately connected with the solution, and so the 
time required for solving is somewhat shorter. Finally, when 
the person sees how he solved it, his learning shows a sudden 
improvement. Whereas, in the first trial, it may have taken 
him fifteen minutes to solve the puzzle, he may solve it the 
very next, time in fifteen seconds. An extremely sharp improve¬ 
ment in one’s learning curve usually indicates a change from 
the fumbling, trial-and-error type of learning to an insight into 
the nature of the problem. (See Figure 51.) 

This type of learning is much more common than at first it 


LEARNING 


227 


Ct; 120 




might appear. It accounts for the so-called beginner’s luck. 
The new golfer goes out with no clear notion as to the fine 
points of the game but in blundering along he may make some 
very fine shots. He is just as likely to make some very bad ones 
immediately afterwards because 
he does not know how he 

^ 360 

made the good ones. The new 1 320 
salesman may blunder into some | m 
wonderful luck, but if he is J 240 
working on the trial-and-error ■§ 200 
basis, he will make a very ir- | 160 
regular record. The novice in 
the stock market may make a 
fortune one week, but he is likely 
to lose it the next. The pro¬ 
fessional is the man who makes 
a consistent record because he 
has learned the principles of the 
work he is doing and is not re¬ 
lying on chance success. In 
short, the trial-and-error method 
is often good in the beginning of 
a task (it certainly is better than 
never attempting anything), but 
in human life it should be super¬ 
seded as soon as possible by other 
more efficient types of learning. 

Learning by Observation. In learning by observation 
there is some insight into the method of procedure before the 
act is begun. There is considerable question whether lower 
animals use this method. Thorndike found that one cat did not 
profit by watching another cat get out of a cage. On the other 
hand, Woodworth cites the case of a chimpanzee that watched 
another poke a banana out of a hollow log with a stick. Upon 


2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 

Number of Trials 

Fig. 51. Curve of Learning 
for the Twisted-Nail 
Puzzle 

The first success came acci¬ 
dentally, but the method was 
noted, so that a marked decrease 
in time occurs after the first trial. 
In trials 6 and 11 an important 
principle was discovered which 
soon reduced the time to the 
physiological minimum. (Adapted 
from Ruger, Archives of Psy¬ 
chology. XV.) 








































228 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


being released, the second chimpanzee immediately proceeded 
to imitate the first in his method of securing the banana. It is 
probable that some of the higher animals do learn by imitation. 
It is even more probable that most of the stories about imitation 
in animals are false. 

Man certainly learns by observation. Language is largely ac¬ 
quired by this method. Coaches in athletics, teachers of vocal 
and instrumental music, instructors in shops, as well as parents, 
spend much time illustrating how to perform skilled acts. The 
benefit which the pupil gets from this instruction may be said 
to be gained through imitation. Thus described, imitation is 
no mysterious principle but only a name for one form of 
learning. 

Learning by Association. In the two previous methods of 
learning there was a fairly direct connection between a stimulus 
and a response; that is, the emphasis was upon the motor ele¬ 
ment in the learning. In associational learning there is a 
greater elaboration of complex central connections and the 
motor component is usually confined to one type of expression 
— namely, words. Learning by association is a generally used 
method, but it is most effective when employed with connec¬ 
tions which involve verbal reactions. It is by association that 
the child connects the names of objects with the objects them¬ 
selves. The child learns to produce sounds by imitation, but 
he learns to relate the sounds to the objects by association. 
It is by association that the child learns to use printed sym¬ 
bols for spoken words. Foreign languages are also learned by 
association. 

Ideational Learning. In ideational learning there is still 
greater elaboration of the central processes. For example, a 
person faced with a problem may manifest few or no specific 
responses for a long time but, during this interval, there may 
be great neural activity with only incipient or minor motor re¬ 
actions. Mental multiplication of two numbers (23x56, for 


LEARNING 


229 


example) is an illustration of this type of learning. The way 
in which the child is trained in the processes which are neces¬ 
sary to solve such a problem shows the growth from one step 
in the learning process to the next. The child must, by trial 
and error, learn that two objects are more than one, and three 
more than two. If a young child is offered a block, he may 
take it with his right hand. When he is offered another, he 
will probably take it with his left hand. When he is offered 
a third block, he will probably drop the first or second one 
in order to take this third one. He will continue to drop one 
he has in order to take another as long as the game is interest¬ 
ing. He has little notion of the cumulative value of one, two, 
three, four, and so on. But by trial and error he learns. Then 
by watching others and by instruction he learns to relate 
numbers; he adds cars and makes a long train, he takes cars 
away and makes a short train. By associational learning he 
relates names to these number sequences. By a combination 
of trial and error, instruction, and associational learning he 
acquires the ability to add and subtract, multiply and divide. 
Finally, there comes the transition of all this learning from 
the motor side to the ideational side, and he is able to manipu¬ 
late the symbols without referring to the objects. 

He begins by adding and subtracting cars and blocks, is 
promoted to the stage where he adds and subtracts on his 
fingers, and finally learns to add and subtract numbers “ in his 
head.” The transition is sometimes difficult, as is evidenced 
by children using their fingers below their desks when the 
teacher is insisting that they use their heads instead. 

The four types of learning are not mutually exclusive but 
tend to overlap one another. The same general principles hold 
for all of them. The difference is rather one of degree. There 
is trial and error in reasoning and there is association in all 
forms of learning. Nevertheless, these divisions are useful in 
stressing the different factors in learning and in emphasizing 
the relative importance of each in different problems. 


230 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


XXXVI. Habit Formation 

Learning may progress to such a degree that the resultant 
behavior will be almost as automatic, precise, and instantane¬ 
ous as a reflex. These fixed behavior patterns which have been 
learned are called habits, and may range all the way from 
simple motor responses to such complex attitudes as hatred, 
laziness, patriotism, or one’s philosophy of life. Habits have 
the advantage of simplifying many phases of our lives; but at 
the same time they have the disadvantage of virtually en¬ 
slaving us to types of behavior which may be socially unde¬ 
sirable. By following certain rules, one may control his habits 
and even free himself from unfortunate ones. 

Wide Range of Habits. Certain phases of the learning 
process have received special attention. This applies particu¬ 
larly to acts of skill and problems of moral conduct. Learning 
in these fields is generally called habit formation. We also 
tend to restrict the term habit to those motor responses which 
concern the whole organism. We form habits in learning to 
play tennis or in smoking. On the other hand, the terms habit, 
or habit formation, and learning are frequently used inter¬ 
changeably. Habit is the result of learning. We learn habits. 
Habit formation is learning. 

As we have said before, the lower animals and the child at 
birth exhibit only unlearned behavior. As we go higher in the 
animal scale or as the child grows older, learned responses be¬ 
come more and more prominent. The more intelligent the 
animal or man, the more likely he is to have a wide range of 
habits. Modern man is so largely controlled by habits that he 
is likely not to realize their number or importance. 

Practical Effects of Habit. Man may get up by habit at 
a certain hour, dress by habit, and eat mostly as a matter of 
habit. He goes to work by habit and most of his conversa¬ 
tion is habitual. Let us now consider some of the practical 
effects of habits. 


LEARNING 


231 


1. One of the most important consequences of a habit is that 
it reduces the amount or changes the direction of conscious 
attention to an act. When we are learning to run an auto¬ 
mobile, to typewrite, or to play golf, we must give our painful 
attention to each part of the process. As we become more 
habitualized to the process, attention to details becomes less 
and less important, until we need to be conscious of the act 
only at the start. Handwriting has become almost entirely 
automatic with most of us. The expert typist can carry on a 
conversation without stopping his work. In fact the expert is 
not likely to do so well when he thinks of each part of an act 
as he does when he performs the act automatically. He does 
not do it the same way. This is one important reason why some 
good athletes do not make good coaches. 

In such games as golf we see another example of the gradual 
elimination of consciousness. As we have already intimated, 
the novice must give attention to each part of an act as it is 
being performed. At each step in the process, as practice con¬ 
tinues, smaller parts of the act are combined into larger wholes. 
The attention is then directed to these larger parts. After 
years of practice the expert golfer automatically takes the cor¬ 
rect stance and gives his attention only to the ball and the 
green at which he is shooting. 

2. The second practical effect of habit is that it reduces 
fatigue. It is the first game of the season that tires the players 
the most. The man who begins some difficult task in industry 
is easily fatigued the first few days. After he becomes accus¬ 
tomed to the task, he gets along very satisfactorily. The rea¬ 
son for this is not hard to find. As we practice, we become 
more proficient and therefore use up less energy. Further¬ 
more, before a habit is fixed, nervous energy is consumed not 
only in stimulating the muscles which make the correct move¬ 
ments, but in contracting other muscles, some of which may 
be antagonistic to the desired movement. In the case of mus- 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


232 

cular effort the muscles themselves become hardened to the 
new task. 

3. The third effect of habit is partly included in the second. 
Habit simplifies our movements. We need only watch a man 
learning to play a new game or a beginner on some new ma¬ 
chine to see an illustration of this effect. The trouble is not 
so much that such persons make too few movements (more 
often they make too many), but they are not the right move¬ 
ments or are not made at the right time. Mr. Frank Gilbreth 
conducted an experiment in which he placed small electric 
light bulbs, with flexible cord attachments from a battery, on 
the hands of machine workers. He then photographed the 
movements of the workers’ hands in doing a routine task. Ten 
repetitions of a task performed by the skilled workers could 
be photographed one upon another and the record could hardly 
be told from the record of a single performance; that is, all ten 
were practically the same. But when the movements of a 
novice were photographed, each performance was different 
from all the others. As Gilbreth well said, there is one best 
way to do each act. The skilled workman tends to approach 
this best way, but even the expert may be able to improve on 
his old methods. The novice has no method. He performs 
each act differently. It is only by long, painstaking trial and 
error that he learns an efficient method of work. 

Age Differences in Habit Formation. William James 
many years ago pointed out that most of our personal habits 
are formed by the age of twenty. He says: 

The period below twenty is important ... for the fixation of 
personal habits, properly so called, such as vocalization and pro¬ 
nunciation, gesture, motion, and address. Hardly ever is a language, 
learned after twenty, spoken without a foreign accent; hardly ever 
can a youth, transferred to the society of his betters, unlearn the 
nasality and other vices of speech bred in him by the associations 
of his growing years. Hardly ever, indeed, no matter how much 
money there be in his pocket, can he even learn to dress like a 


LEARNING 


233 


gentleman born. The merchants offer their wares as eagerly to him 
as to the veriest £ swell ’ but he simply cannot buy the right things. 
An invisible law, as strong as gravitation, keeps him within his orbit, 
arrayed this year as he was last; and how his better-clad acquaint¬ 
ances contrive to get the things they wear will be for him a mystery 
till his dying day. 1 

Even in more intimate affairs than clothes and language our 
habits are formed early. We form the habit of reacting to 
people. We form habits of social relations that make us either 
very agreeable friends and companions or the opposite. Our 
emotional behavior becomes largely a matter of habit. We de¬ 
velop happy or sad dispositions by habit. Swearing is largely 
a matter of habit. Statistical studies have shown that more 
than half of those who join a church do so before the age of six¬ 
teen. Other kinds of moral conduct become habitual. We 
learn to be prompt or late in our engagements, to be truthful 
or to lie. In fact so little of our lives is more than habit that 
we may with some truth speak of a man as a bundle of habits. 

During the late teens and early twenties we are busy form¬ 
ing our professional habits. Although the rewards may not 
come until later, our ultimate success or failure depends largely 
on the habits we form in our early professional experience. 

There is considerable difference of opinion and practice in 
the matter of how early these specific professional habits should 
be formed. Some industries, especially the railroads, and some 
commercial organizations have stressed the importance of an 
early start. Biographies, and especially autobiographies, are 
replete with instances of office boys who have become presi¬ 
dents of their respective organizations. Such men are sure of 
the importance of their early professional experiences. 

Others, equally successful, have stressed the importance of 
a broad, general foundation before entering industry. The 
professions, especially medicine, require a long period of train- 

1 James, Wm, Psychology, Briefer Course, pp. i 43 ~ 4 - Holt > x 9 2 3 - 


234 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


ing. While such training is related to later life work, it does 
not consist in actual experience in surgery, materia medica, and 
clinical practice. Proponents of this theory point to the large 
proportion of successful college men in both industry and the 
professions. While the point may be well taken, it is possible 
that at least part of the success of the college group is due to 
their superior ability and not entirely to the results of their 
training. Nevertheless it is probably true that the kind of 
training received in college is conducive to clearer thinking and 
a more cosmopolitan interest in things worth while. Further 
than this the difference between the two points of view is not 
clear. 

Whether the training starts early or late, the final results are 
of the same kind. To quote again from James: 

Already at the age of twenty-five you see the professional man¬ 
nerisms settling down on the young commercial traveler, on the 
young doctor, on the young minister, on the young counsellor-at-law. 
You see the little lines of cleavage running through the character, 
the tricks of thought, the prejudices, the ways of the ‘ shop ’ in a 
word, from which the man can by-and-by no more escape than his 
coat-sleeve can suddenly fall into a new set of folds. On the whole 
it is best that he should not escape. It is well for the world that in 
most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, 
and will never soften again. 1 

There is considerable truth in these statements, although 
they are somewhat exaggerated. It is true that most of our 
habits are formed in early life. Yet when the occasion arises, 
a man can form habits late in life. Through death in the 
family or through disaster, a person may suddenly be thrown 
out of the regular routine of life. Under such circumstances, 
although it requires considerable mental strain, the average in¬ 
dividual learns to adjust to the new situation. The reason that 
1 James, Wm., op. cit., p. 144. 


LEARNING 


235 


most persons do not form habits late in life is that their lives 
have already become habitualized and no unusual circum¬ 
stances make it necessary for them to change. Professor 
Thorndike has shown that learning ability continues with little 
loss until well after middle life. 

Good and Bad Habits. It has often been claimed that it is 
easier to form a bad habit than to form a good habit. Such 
is not the case. One is just as difficult as the other, per se. 
The general laws of learning hold in either case. Practice, 
plus the degree of satisfaction or annoyance, fully accounts for 
all habits. The reason boys learn to smoke and to swear is 
that they practice these things and get a great deal of enjoy¬ 
ment from them. If the boy gets just as much joy from mow¬ 
ing the lawn or studying his arithmetic and works at it just 
as hard (as he will do if he likes it), he will learn that thing 
as readily as anything else. It is most important that we set 
up significant values and standards of attainment for our 
youth. Too often the immediate and the mock heroic are 
substituted for the real and the enduring things in life. And 
the elders are generally, although unintentionally, the cause 
of these substitutions. 

James’s Laws of Habit. William James in his great con¬ 
tribution to the problems of habit formation has laid down 
four maxims, or laws, of habit formation. 

1. The first of these is: In forming a new habit, launch 
yourself with as strong and decided an initiative as possible. 
No new enterprise, either personal or social, is achieved by a 
half-hearted appeal. This law is a justification for initiative 
ceremonies or pledges. Such a start is likely to fortify one 
against the dull drudgery or vain cravings of later days. This 
is not a new principle in psychology. It is the same phenome¬ 
non as purpose, or motive, described by Woodworth. A motive 
consists in a change of a longer or shorter duration in the re¬ 
sistance of a pathway. The stronger the motive, the lower 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


236 

the resistance, and, other things being equal, the longer it will 
last. 

2. The second law is: Never suffer an exception to occur in 
the formation of a new habit. Especially in the early stages 
of a habit, one exception will destroy the effects of several 
practices. This may seem contradictory to the law of use in 
learning, but it is closely related to the first law of habit. One 
relapse breaks down the motives in the formation of the habit. 
It is so easy thereafter to say, “ Oh, what’s the use! ” If this 
attitude is taken, all is lost. It is the first drink taken after 
the decision to stop that breaks the new habit and reestablishes 
the old. 

This illustrates the method of destroying any habit, good or 
bad. We destroy a habit by forming another habit in its 
place. If you have formed the habit of paying no attention 
to the alarm clock in the morning, have some one awaken you 
rather rudely for a few mornings the first time it rings, and 
then get up immediately. 

3. The third law is: Seek the first possible opportunity to act 
upon a new resolution. The best time to make a New Year’s 
resolution is now, whether now is January third or December 
twenty-sixth. And the best time to put the resolution into 
practice is immediately upon making it. It is usually fatal to 
put off until New Year’s day the promptings of the moment. 
Delaying until tomorrow is an effective way of failing to begin 
the new habit. The reason we delay is that we really do not 
want to change. If you resolve that you are going to attend 
church, lodge, or professional meetings more regularly, look 
up the date of the next meeting that is to be held. Then allow 
no excuse to keep you away. 

4. The fourth law is: Keep the faculty of effort alive in you 
by a little gratuitous exercise daily. This is the most difficult 
of the laws to justify on psychological grounds. Yet it is cer¬ 
tainly worth trying. The principle embodied in this law makes 


LEARNING 


237 


the distinction between youth and old age. When we regard 
all our problems as solved and place each new problem into 
some old category, thereafter dismissing it without further 
concern or effort, we have grown old. That is the criticism 
that modern youth is holding so effectively against the tenets 
of our present civilization. Their constructive measures may 
not be better or even so good as our own, but by such means 
will progress come. Progress comes only when we do every¬ 
thing we can both collectively and individually to keep an open 
mind. 

There are many acts that should be relegated to habit. We 
should not spend much time and energy in determining what 
we shall eat and wear each day. But the great problems of 
religion, politics, and business should stimulate us to mental 
effort. We should not, of course, unthinkingly abandon the 
heritage of the ages. The past should be duly respected and 
preserved until we are sure we have something better. But 
religion and politics are ever in process of evolution, ever 
reaching for higher goals, and with progress must come changes 
in our thinking. Life is a continual struggle between the 
tendency to relegate everything to habit — to become “ old 
fogies ” — and the tendency to remain young enough to make 
new adjustments — to remain plastic. 

Selected References 

Carr, H. A., Psychology, Chapter V. Longmans, 1925. 

Gates, A. I., Elementary Psychology, Revised Edition, Chapters X, 
XI, and XII. Macmillan, 1925. 

Gault, R. H., and Howard, D. T., Outline of General Psychology, 
Chapter IV. Longmans, 1925. 

James, William, Psychology, Briefer Course, Chapter X. Holt, 
1923. 

Morgan, J. J. B., and Gilliland, A. R., An Introduction to Psy¬ 
chology, Chapter IV. Macmillan, 1927. 


CHAPTER VIII 


LEARNING ( Continued) — MEMORY 

XXXVII. The Place and Significance of Memory 

Memory is a special form of the learning process in which 
the verbal components are more significant than are other 
types of motor response. This chapter is an elaboration, there¬ 
fore, of the complex types of learning mentioned in the last 
chapter as associational and ideational learning. The funda¬ 
mental principles of memorizing are no different from learning 
in general, but the increase in complexity makes a special 
study of memory essential. As we enter the more complex 
phases of life, memory plays an increasingly important role. 

We may divide our study of the subject into three main sec¬ 
tions: fixation, retention, and recall. 

Learning, Memory, and Habit. The reader is likely to be 
misled by the use of different terms in psychology. Sometimes 
these terms mean very different things and sometimes they 
mean almost the same thing. Three terms that mean almost 
the same are learning, memory, and habit. The word learning 
is a general term and can generally be applied in place of the 
other terms. Memory is learning where the material learned is 
in the form of words. The term is also sometimes used to de¬ 
scribe what has been learned. For example, we may speak of 
the memory of a lesson we learned last week. Habit, as has 
been explained, usually refers to the acquisition of skills and to 
moral conduct. This chapter will deal principally with prob¬ 
lems of memory and methods for improving the memory 
process. 


238 


MEMORY 


239 


Economy of Verbal Symbols. Words are essentially short 
cuts and, as such, save man an inestimable amount of time and 
energy. We respond to the name of an object we have learned 
just as readily and effectively as to the object itself. By using 
the names of acts, we tell a person what we want him to do in¬ 
stead of showing him. By words, such as above, right, north, 
within, and the like, we indicate relationships which would be 
extremely difficult to convey by any other means. We classify 
by means of verbal expressions of likeness and difference and 
then utilize the classification further by building up abstrac¬ 
tions and principles to guide our conduct. Could we, for ex¬ 
ample, without the use of verbal symbols ever come to a 
realization or practical application of such a useful principle 
as: The hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to the 
square root of the sum of the squares of the two legs? 

It will help us at the beginning of our study of memory to 
examine the interrelation of some of the processes concerned 
in it. Suppose, for example, that for the first time in our lives 
we saw a cow. Even if we were not given a name for it, we 
should recognize it the next time we saw it. We should have 
a feeling of familiarity. This is the simplest type of memory 
and will be treated in the discussion of recognitive memory. If 
a verbal symbol was used in connection with the cow, we may 
be able to call up a memory of the animal when the name is 
mentioned; that is, we may imagine a cow, or when we again 
see a cow, we may be able to remember the name cow. This 
latter process is called recall. Recall, in this case, is depend¬ 
ent upon the degree of fixation between the animal and the 
name, and upon the ability of the individual to retain such a 
connection after it has been established. In other words, recog¬ 
nition and recall are the final results in the memory process. 
They of course must be preceded by earlier steps. These 
earlier steps are called fixation and retention. 

This illustration indicates the relationship between the phases 


240 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


of memory that we shall study. Fixation is the process by 
means of which this familiarity becomes specific and related to 
some verbal symbol; retention is the degree of permanence of 
the connection established; recognition is a mere vague feeling 
of familiarity, and recall is the process of bringing into active 
functioning some connection which has been fixated, or estab¬ 
lished, by previous experience. 


XXXVIII. Fixation 

The principles involved in the fixation of verbal material 
are essentially the same as those already described in learning 
other kinds of material. The difference in the nature of the 
verbal material makes certain techniques effective which do 
not apply to motor learning. It is with a discussion of these 
specific techniques that we shall be concerned in this section. 

General Laws of Memorizing. In memorizing we use the 
various kinds of learning described in the last chapter; we 
learn by substitute stimuli, by substitute responses, by com¬ 
bination, and by the fixation of random responses. These repre¬ 
sent the ways in which original nature is modified. In the 
memory process these principles govern the nature of the first 
verbal connections, as well as later intricate verbal combina¬ 
tions. The laws of use, disuse, and effect determine which of 
the verbal relationships shall become permanent, as well as the 
degree of permanence. In addition to these general principles 
which apply equally well in all fields of learning there are spe¬ 
cific ways in which the fixation of verbal material may be facili¬ 
tated, and it is with these techniques that we are now concerned. 

Specific Rules for Memorizing. If one is to make the most 
effective use of his memory, he should carefully analyze the 
use he wishes to make of the material to be memorized, and 
then apply the principles which best fit his need. 


MEMORY 


241 


1. Memorize with a specific purpose. We sometimes hear 
of a memory prodigy who can tell all the numbers on a train 
of cars which has just passed, or relate a great many facts 
about historical characters which one would expect to find only 
in an encyclopedia. The author met such a prodigy in 1909. 
At that time the young man could give the exact population 
of every city of more than ten thousand inhabitants in the 
United States, according to the census of 1900. Three years 
later, when the author saw him last, he could give not only the 
aforementioned figures, but also the corresponding figures of 
the 1910 census. In other respects the young man was not ex¬ 
ceptional; in fact he was unable to pass the examination for 
an elementary-teacher’s certificate even after many trials. 

Such performances appear marvelous, and we are inclined 
to wish we were so gifted. Investigation usually shows that 
these persons are not particularly gifted, but that they spent a 
vast amount of time and energy in acquiring this material or 
in developing the scheme that enables them to do it. The 
normal man does not want such a memory. If you are in a 
position where you need to be a walking encyclopedia, it will 
pay you to acquire facts as such; if you want to be a vaude¬ 
ville performer, it may pay you to develop a lot of apparently 
clever performances; but if you are the ordinary man, you will 
want to use your memory on different occasions in different 
ways. So in each instance it may pay you to ask just what you 
would like your memory to do. 

Before undertaking to memorize, it is advisable to de¬ 
termine whether the material is to be learned for permanent 
use, limited recall, or immediate recall. 

(a) Learning for immediate recall. When we learn only 
for immediate recall, it is just as desirable that we forget 
quickly. We look up a telephone number and retain it long 
enough to get the connection, but if we know we shall never 
want to call that number again, or at least not soon, we do not 


242 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


want to retain it indefinitely. It would become a nuisance to 
us if we did. We start to read an article in a magazine and 
find that it is continued on page 76. We wish to retain that 
number long enough to find the page, but we do not want to 
remember to our dying day that the particular article was 
continued on page 76. A great many events in life are of this 
order. Do not let any memory charlatan cajole you into wish¬ 
ing you could remember everything. Life would be a burden 
if you did. 

On the other hand, it may be valuable to increase the num¬ 
ber of elements you can retain for immediate reproduction. 
The average adult can reproduce after one repetition about 
eight or nine discrete digits or about twenty-five syllables of 
material which has meaning. It has been found that even 
much practice will not enable us to increase greatly the num¬ 
ber of discrete elements that can be repeated after one hear¬ 
ing, but the most effective method of producing an increase is 
to make such material meaningful. Meaning can be intro¬ 
duced in various ways. 

Sometimes rhythm will enable us to repeat more digits than 
we otherwise could. For example, 473598312956, which is far 
beyond the ordinary memory span, might be reproduced if it 
were grouped and read as 473-598-312-956. Such a procedure 
is virtually reducing the whole number to four discrete units, 
each of which, to be sure, is rather complex. 

Specific meanings will enlarge our immediate memory still 
more. If each digit is taken separately, such a number as 
149252386728 is beyond the ordinary memory span. But, 
1492 is the year Columbus discovered America, 5238 is a tele¬ 
phone number with which the author happens to be very 
familiar, and 6728 is the house number of the author’s 
brother. With such meaning the series can be retained in¬ 
definitely. 

Most schemes that improve immediate memory operate 


MEMORY 


243 


upon some such principle. They furnish devices, more or less 
valuable, to enable the subject quickly to read meaning into 
what would otherwise be a nonsense series of discrete items. 
Such devices are of value only where it is desired either to 
increase the length of the immediate memory span or to make 
a permanent impression with what would otherwise soon be 
forgotten. Furthermore, they generally apply only to rote 
learning, such as committing poetry, speeches, or outlines. 
They seldom are effective in helping one to remember the im¬ 
portant facts in something which has been studied or the ab¬ 
stract principles necessary for constructive thinking. 

( b) Learning for limited recall. By referring to Figure 50 
it may be seen that forgetting proceeds very rapidly at first, 
and then more slowly. The significance of this fact is ap¬ 
parent when we are confronted with the task of learning ma¬ 
terial which is to be produced at a definite future date. If 
my last practice is a week before the time for reciting, I shall 
have forgotten the larger part of what I learned. It will pay 
in such a case to have my last practice as near as possible to 
the recitation period. 

This is the principle upon which the well-known practice of 
“ cramming ” is based. Students have learned that it pays to 
refresh their memories just before they are to be examined. 
Obviously, a large part of such crammed material will have 
disappeared shortly after the examination. However, if the 
student’s primary purpose is to pass the examination, this is 
the way to do it. 

If the student puts too much faith in cramming, he will 
find himself confronted with another fact which will result in 
his discomfiture. There ‘is a limit to the amount that can be 
memorized at one sitting, and usually this amount is much 
smaller than that included for any examination. The same 
thing holds when one has to make a public speech, read a poem, 
or do any other task involving memorizing. There is usually 


244 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


more than one can learn in one practice period; hence, if one 
tries to defer the entire learning to a time immediately pre¬ 
ceding the delivery, he will find himself in hopeless confusion. 
The solution is to distribute the practice over periods pre¬ 
ceding the delivery until it is fairly well learned, and then to 
have a final practice immediately preceding delivery. 

( c ) Memorizing for permanent use. It is possible to learn 
some things so intimately that they are never forgotten. One 
should endeavor to have as permanent memories those things 
which he finds most occasion to use. To accomplish this, three 
things should be done: (i) distribute the practice over a 
relatively long period of time, (2) overlearn, and (3) develop 
as many relationships with other things as possible. 

Many experiments have demonstrated the utility of dis¬ 
tributed practice when one wishes to retain material perma¬ 
nently. Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist, found that 38 
repetitions distributed over three days was as effective as 68 
repetitions confined to one day. What one is doing when he 
distributes his learning can be understood by another refer¬ 
ence to Figure 50. Suppose the material is learned so that it 
can be repeated once. At this stage in the process, the curve 
of forgetting takes a sharp decline. But beyond this decline 
there is a residuum of memory for the material which remains 
for a long time, as is shown by the comparatively level por¬ 
tion of the curve. If, at the period represented by the be¬ 
ginning of this level portion, the material is relearned so that 
it can be repeated once more, another curve of forgetting is 
superimposed upon the first, the level portion of which is above 
the level portion of the first curve. If, after the major drop in 
this second curve, the material is again relearned, a third level 
of permanent memory will have been established. The result 
of such learning is illustrated in Figure 52. 

This is what we mean by overlearning. By learning and re¬ 
learning we fix the material in our memories more thoroughly 


MEMORY 


245 


than is absolutely essential for its reproduction. At last it be¬ 
comes a part of us. We have all, for example, overlearned our 
names. For the child, learning one’s name is a difficult task. 
At first he learned it and forgot, and then learned it again, re¬ 
peatedly. As he grew older, he overlearned it by using it on 



Fig. 52. Showing How Overlearning May Operate to 
Increase Permanent Retention 

This schematic representation is deduced from a study of the 
curve of forgetting. If material is learned so that it can just be 
reproduced perfectly immediately afterward, at the end of one 
day only 34% of it will be retained. If it is then relearned, 56% 
of it will be retained at the end of the second day. With relearning 
each day the percentages retained will increase, so that by the end 
of the seventh day 94% will be retained. 

all sorts of occasions, until it became so much a part of him that 
in adulthood something radical must happen to him in order 
to make him forget it. 

The third factor in permanent memorizing, that of forming 
all the relationships possible, is perhaps the most important. It 
will be discussed in detail when we take up the problem of 
recall. In rote memory, when the purpose is the exact repro- 























GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


246 

duction of the material learned, repetition is an essential factor 
in learning. One repeats the material over and over again un¬ 
til serial connections are established. By this method mean¬ 
ingless material, even nonsense syllables, may be memorized, 
but it can be reproduced only in the manner in which it was 
learned. For permanent memory, all sorts of collateral con¬ 
nections should be established, so that the relationship of each 
part with other things in life is made a part of the memory. 
In short, the permanent value of any acquisition is measured 
by the number of collateral relationships that have been es¬ 
tablished. The author, for example, heard two persons who 
had been abroad during the summer give a recital of the in¬ 
teresting events of the trip. One was full of accounts of the 
new things he had witnessed, and furnished his auditors with 
a delightful experience in listening to him. The other was ex¬ 
hausted when he had said that it was foggy in London and 
that he nearly froze in Italy. 

2. Vivid impressions last longer. In many instances the 
factor of vividness is not within our control. Many vivid ex¬ 
periences which have made a deep impression upon us we may 
wish could be effaced. We may have witnessed a terrible acci¬ 
dent which we shall remember to our dying day. We may 
have a vivid recollection of the perfidy of one we had thought 
to be our friend. Vivid war experiences make it inevitable that 
France suggests to many men nothing but mud, swearing, 
death, pain, hunger, and “ cooties.” If we could only make 
desirable experiences as vivid as these unpleasant ones, how re¬ 
markably efficient we could make our memories! 

While we may not be able to make all worthy items in our 
lives stand out with the vividness of an automobile crash, there 
are ways of controlling the intensity of stimuli as an adjunct 
to efficient memorizing. 

One principle is to prevent trivial things from occupying too 
important a place. We waste too much time fretting because 


MEMORY 


247 


the room is too cold or too hot, because the toast is too crisp 
or not crisp enough, because a speaker’s voice is too loud or 
too soft, because it is too cloudy or too sunny. If you take an 
inventory of the things which stand out in a day’s experience, 
you will be amazed at the number of trivial ones which pre¬ 
sent themselves. 

As a result of allowing trivial incidents to dominate, we buy 
from a salesman because he has a suave manner or because we 
like his tie or voice. We are so intrigued by these nones¬ 
sentials that we fail to judge the article he is trying to sell us. 
One of the favorite tricks of salesmen is to make some detail 
so vivid that essential factors are ignored. For example, a 
salesman may show an article which is so foreign to the pros¬ 
pective customer’s taste that he does not want it at all. By 
leading the customer to specify some particular thing about 
the article which he does not like, the salesman may divert 
his attention to the consideration of possible changes in some 
unimportant detail. If the customer’s attention is fixed upon 
this one detail, after the desired change in the detail is made, he 
may forget that he hated the article and, in the end, purchase it. 

On the positive side, many experiments in the psychological 
laboratory have demonstrated the value of vividness in memo¬ 
rizing. In presenting series of numerals to be memorized, Miss 
Calkins interspersed with regular two-digit numerals some 
three-digit numerals, making the latter smaller and in red ink 
instead of black. The three-digit numbers, though smaller 
and harder, were recalled twice as frequently because they 
were more vivid. 

If such simple devices as size and color of lettering can 
make so much difference in memorizing digits, it should be 
relatively easy to make vivid any material we must learn. The 
trouble with most of us is that we merely drift along and take 
things as they come. If we have to learn something which is 
uninteresting, we begrudge the time required to learn it, and 


2 4 8 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

undertake the task with indifference. What we should do is 
to stop until we can find some fascination in the things we 
have to learn, and then the learning will be easy. 

3. Recitations shorten the learning time. Attempts to re¬ 
cite the material as soon as possible after it is memorized are 
helpful. The most blundering repetition, even with prompt¬ 
ings at many points, is much more effective than a perfect 
reading of the material with no attempt to recite. This fact 
has been demonstrated in the laboratory with all sorts of 
memory materials. The student can use this principle in a 
class recitation by thinking the answers to the questions asked 
of his classmates. If he knows the answers, he is getting a 
helpful review; if he does not know the answers, the recitation 
of the student who has been called upon will serve as a 
prompter. 

The adult student should not need class recitations; he 
should be able to devise ways of his own to test his memory. 
The method he devises will depend upon the material he is 
memorizing. We shall indicate a few sample methods. 

If the task is to learn poetry, the lines of a play, or some 
similar material, the body of the page may be covered with a 
card when repetition is attempted. If a block occurs, the 
learner can prompt himself by this device without exposing 
more than one line at a time. 

Vocabularies, definitions, formulae, rules, and similar ma¬ 
terial can be more easily learned if the stimulus words and 
their equivalents are put down in parallel columns; then the 
equivalents can be covered with a card and exposed only as 
needed. 

Much of the learning of the advanced student requires the 
memorization of the important facts in what he has read. A 
device for facilitating this type of memorizing is as follows: 
After reading each paragraph or section, look away from the 
book and repeat the gist of what has been read. If you cannot 


MEMORY 


249 


summarize the material in a few short sentences, you do not 
understand it and you had better read it again. When you 
can summarize it, write on a sheet of note paper a key word 
or sentence which will help you to recall the principal points 
in the paragraph. You will then have a topical outline of the 
lesson when you have finished reading it. Study the outline 
to make it logical, and then use it as a basis for asking your¬ 
self questions. For example, on reading this text, you might 
have the word recitations in your outline. Can you give the 
gist of what you have been told about recitations helping your 
memorizing processes? If you cannot, glance through the text 
again and prompt yourself wherever necessary. In this man¬ 
ner you can use recitations and promptings to help you learn 
material which does not require rote memory. 

Valuable as the device just mentioned may be, it tends to 
violate another principle in efficient learning. It has been 
found through repeated experiments that one can retain about 
the same percentage of what he has read whether he reads 
rapidly or whether he reads slowly. Taking into consideration 
the gain in time, rapid reading becomes much more efficient 
than slow reading. Furthermore, most persons can increase 
their rate of reading from one half to twice their present rate. 
Thus the advantage of rapid reading becomes even more ap¬ 
parent. 

It would, therefore, probably be most efficient to read assign¬ 
ments once as rapidly as possible, and then, by way of review, 
make a topical outline of what was read. This may take either 
the form of silent recall or a written outline or both. 

4. Mnemonic devices aid memory. Certain mnemonic de¬ 
vices have been highly advertised as methods of learning and 
of remembering facts and faces. Many men have paid large 
sums for courses in memory training. The basis for most of 
such courses is an elaborate scheme or outline of numbers or 
letters which the student must commit. Anything to be re- 


2 5 o general psychology 

membered is then fitted into this committed outline. Such 
a plan usually works. The only serious fault to be found 
with it is that generally more time and effort are required to 
commit the scheme than would have been required to commit 
directly the material to be learned. Furthermore, it takes a 
very ingenious person to fit much of the material to be learned 
into the schematic outline. 

A better method of memorizing is to make a careful prelim¬ 
inary organization of the material. Then each part should 
be committed by making it as meaningful as possible. This 
is another way of saying that just as many associations as pos¬ 
sible should be formed between the material to be learned 
and what is already known. Finally, these relations must be 
strengthened by emphasis and repetition. To refer to an exam¬ 
ple already given, if you want to learn the names of a group of 
men, pay particular attention to each name as you are being 
introduced. Repeat each man’s name as often as possible 
while talking with him. Get as many facts about the man 
— his looks, his occupation, his home, his peculiarities — as 
possible. After you have left the group, try to recall these 
facts about each man along with his name. If this method is 
used regularly, almost anyone can soon become fairly efficient 
in learning people’s names. 

Suppose you wish to develop a device for remembering the 
outline of this section of the text. A possible scheme might be 
as follows: 

Specific rules for memorizing. 

1. Memorize with a specific purpose. 

a. Learning for immediate recall. 

b. Learning for limited recall. 

c. Memorizing for permanent use. 

2. Vivid impressions last longer. 

3. Recitations shorten the learning time. 

4. Mnemonic devices aid memory. 


MEMORY 


251 


5. Learn as a whole rather than in parts. 

6. Rhythm or motor responses help memory. 

Key words for each topic are: purpose, immediate, limited, 
permanent, vivid, recitations, mnemonic, whole, rhythm. Be¬ 
cause these words are relatively unrelated they are hard to 
recall. How can they be brought into one mnemonic scheme? 
By a little juggling the first four can be changed to: specific- 
purpose, limited, immediate, and permanent. The first letters 
of these four spell slip. By changing vividness to interest, 
whole to entire, and mnemonic to devices and by changing the 
order of the five words, we get: recitations, interest, devices, 
entire, and rhythm. The first letters of these words spell 
rider. If the student can remember the two words slip, rider, 
as well as what each letter stands for, he has a key to the 
outline of this section. 

The student will have to decide for himself whether such a 
scheme pays. The author once memorized the outline of an 
entire book in a similar fashion and passed an excellent exam¬ 
ination upon it. To-day he remembers not a single thing that 
was in the book, but he fulfilled the purpose of the moment, 
which was to pass a good examination. 

Another disadvantage arising from the use of these artificial 
aids to memory is that one may forget the key words. Such 
was the predicament of the character in the Arabian Nights 
who had only to remember the key words open sesame, but at 
the crucial moment he could think only of open corn or open 
barley. Suppose you cannot think of the words slip rider when 
you come to reproduce the contents of this section! Something 
similar, such as slide runner, will not help much. And cer¬ 
tainly, ten years later, when you want to use your memory 
effectively, you will scarcely think of slip rider and by this 
means recall effective memorizing devices. 


252 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

5. Learn as a whole rather than in parts. A long assign¬ 
ment of rote material is more easily memorized if it is either 
studied as a whole or divided into large sections which are 
memorized separately. An experiment in memorizing a poem 
of 240 lines indicated that such material was retained better 
when it was studied as a whole. Material without continuity of 
interest and meaning such as there is in a poem may not be so 
efficiently learned by the whole method. A good rule seems 
to be to learn the material in as large blocks as is possible. 
By this method one gains a perspective and a continuity of 
associations that cannot be obtained if the material is divided 
into bits. One who learns a poem a stanza at a time usually 
has great difficulty in joining the stanzas. This difficulty does 
not arise if the poem is learned as a unit. 

Students who have used the method of learning by wholes 
in studying very complicated subjects report that it adds in¬ 
terest and continuity to the subject. For example, a student 
in psychology might profit by reading the textbook through 
at the beginning of the course. Each assignment in the course 
would then fit into a general background and be easier to grasp. 
If such a method is employed, many points will be hazy after 
the first reading, but they will become clear more quickly than 
they would if studied first in a separate assignment. 

6. Rhythm or motor responses help memory. Any child 
knows that he can learn a poem more quickly if he emphasizes 
the meter. We have already seen how dividing digits into 
groups will increase the immediate memory span. This is 
virtually superimposing a rhythm on a series of otherwise 
unrelated elements. Even the poetry of a language foreign 
to us can be learned if we scan it. This is the same general 
principle that was mentioned under immediate recall. Rhythm 
helps in immediate recall and it also aids in delayed memory. 


MEMORY 


253 


XXXIX. Retention 

A person may improve his methods of memorizing in the 
ways described in the last section, but the ability of the 
nervous system to retain impressions depends upon physio¬ 
logical factors which are beyond his direct control. Reten- 
tivity is probably centered in the synapse. It is influenced by 
such factors as age, fatigue, poisons, drugs, and the like. The 
loss of memory follows a rather characteristic curve, called 
the curve of forgetting , and is the result of the combined 
operation of the laws of primacy, recency, frequency, vivid¬ 
ness, and effect. 

Retention Centered in the Synapse. Retention depends 
upon the persistence of modifications that have resulted from 
the experiences of the individual. The theory which maintains 
that these modifications are centered at the synapse has the 
following facts to support it: First, experiments have demon¬ 
strated that as a result of use, there is no apparent permanent 
change in any other part of the neurone. Second, the nervous 
impulse travels over a synapse in one direction only, as we 
have already mentioned in the discussion of the functioning of 
the nervous system. Third, there is evidence that resistance 
to the nervous impulse occurs at the synapse. Fourth, there 
is no evidence to show fatigue within the body of the neurone. 

The condition of lowered resistance at the synapse may 
persist because the neural pattern involved is repeated fre¬ 
quently. Retention is effective under these conditions, and 
recall is not difficult. When, through disuse or for some other 
cause, the resistance at the synapses is increased, forgetting 
occurs. Impressions fade and ultimately disappear when the 
modifications made by learning are reenforced by neural pat¬ 
terns involved in everyday adjustments. Subsequent learning 
may also play a role in the process of forgetting. 

Retention and Adjustment. A little child, whose nervous 
system is easily modified, learns very quickly to get along in 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


254 

his world. But as development and growth advance, the con¬ 
tinuous need for further learning necessitates, if the new learn¬ 
ing is to be effective, the forgetting of much that has already 
been learned. The child becomes more discriminating, his be¬ 
havior is more selective, his methods of learning are more 
efficient. Furthermore, the passage of time has brought a 
significant increase in experience. A background, or funda¬ 
mental pattern of habits, has been developed. Out of the mass 
of sensory impressions and motor reactions which the child has 
received and made, some have become an integral part of his 
adjustments to life. Speech habits are an illustration of this 
sort of thing. 

One of the most striking characteristics of memory is the 
way in which it is organized. Every new experience is re¬ 
lated to earlier experiences in such a way as to give one the 
impression that his memories constitute a continuum which 
becomes progressively enlarged and enriched as learning pro¬ 
ceeds, yet maintaining at all times its essential unity. Life is 
not so much a matter of the addition of new elements, like add¬ 
ing new links to a chain, as it is a differentiation among the 
elements already possessed. Something new becomes signifi¬ 
cant as it is related to what we already know. We recognize 
objects in terms of the part they have played in our earlier 
experience. 

Incidental Memory. Much that we learn is acquired in¬ 
cidentally; that is, some things have become ingrained in our 
memories, not because we have deliberately learned them, but 
because we have encountered them so frequently in our daily 
lives that they have unconsciously been impressed upon us. 
Most of the experiences which we make use of in normal ad¬ 
justments are gained in this natural way. 

Some of the things learned through incidental memory may 
be of great value at a later time, but others are useless. If you 
are hunting for something and suddenly recall that you saw it 


MEMORY 


255 


in a closet when you were on a totally different errand a few 
days ago, you may save yourself much time. However, efficient 
use of memory precludes dependence upon such incidental 
factors. Memorizing is largely substituting for incidental 
memories those which we hope will be useful to us. In short, 
one who memorizes with a purpose, as pointed out in the pre¬ 
ceding section, will probably develop into a more efficient in¬ 
dividual, even though he may not have as much retentivity, 
than another who depends upon his native capacity to retain 
any chance incidental memories. 

The fact that we usually learn what we set out to learn 
and ignore irrelevancies is illustrated by this story, cited by 
Woodworth: 

There is a famous incident that occurred in a Swiss psychological 
laboratory, when a foreign student was supposed to be memorizing 
a list of nonsense syllables. After the list had been passed before 
him many times without his giving the expected signal that he was 
ready to recite, the experimenter remarked that he seemed to be 
having trouble in memorizing the syllables. “ Oh! I didn’t under¬ 
stand that I was to learn them,” he said; and it was found that, in 
fact, he had made almost no progress toward learning the list. He 
had been observing the separate syllables, with no effort to con¬ 
nect them into a series. 1 

Obviously, we do not retain all that occurs. During each 
day we receive many different impressions which are lost be¬ 
cause they have no part in the organization of our adjustments. 
As we grow older, incidental memories become less and less 
important to us. 

Physiological Factors in Retentivity. There is some anec¬ 
dotal evidence to show that in extreme exhaustion fatigue will 
adversely affect retention. In minor degrees physical fatigue 
does not seem to have a very marked effect. Fatigue and 
poisons conceivably have some effect upon neural connections, 
1 Woodworth, R. S., Psychology, p. 346. Holt, 1921. 


256 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


but not nearly to the extent that many persons would have us 
believe. 

Ill effects from memorizing itself seem to be very slight. 
One of the authors 1 performed an experiment in which sub¬ 
jects, for hours at a time, memorized the English equivalents 
for German words. There was no loss in retention due to 
fatigue. There was some loss in incidental memories. It is 
quite possible that, if the work is prolonged, there may be ill 
effects arising from distaste or other emotional reactions which 
will influence retention. 

Drugs have been shown to have an effect on memory — 
mostly deleterious. Students have tried to find pharmaco¬ 
logical means of improving retentivity, but about the only 
effective measure they can adopt is to take some stimulant 
which improves the general body tone. 

Retentivity certainly changes with age. There seems to be 
an increase in the span of immediate memory from early child¬ 
hood up to adult life. After maturity is reached, the memory 
span remains stationary until late life, when it decreases. One 
of the first signs of senile deterioration is the loss of reten¬ 
tivity. This change takes on a characteristic form. The per¬ 
son can usually retain very well impressions made early in his 
life, but he cannot retain recent experiences. In other words, 
memories formed early in life have left a permanent impress, 
but recent experiences can no longer permanently modify his 
nervous system. For example, such a person will tell you in 
great detail an incident of his boyhood, forgetting that he told 
you the same story yesterday. 

Factors Which Influence Retention. We have said that 
what is retained depends upon a large number of factors. It 
may be well, by way of summary, to list the most important 
of these. They have already been enumerated in the preced- 

1 Morgan, John J. B., “ The Effect of Fatigue on Retention,” Journal 
of Experimental Psychology, Vol. Ill, 1920, pp. 319-333. 


MEMORY 


257 


ing chapter under the laws of learning. They are: (i) use, 
(2) disuse, (3) effect, (4) primacy, (5) recency, and (6) 
vividness. It is upon the basis of these laws that material is 
learned. 

The nature of the material also has an influence on reten¬ 
tion. For reasons already explained, nonsense material is most 
rapidly forgotten; meaningful material is retained longest. 
Material largely motor in character is retained longer than 
any other type of material. A person who has learned to 
skate in childhood will require little practice as an adult. The 
writer once got on a bicycle after a period of at least five years 
during which he had not ridden. For the first few feet he ex¬ 
perienced a peculiar feeling from moving through space in this 
manner, but there was no appreciable loss in the ability to 
ride. These illustrations tend to bear out the results of experi¬ 
ments of a similar kind in the field of ball-tossing and type¬ 
writing. 

Can Memory Be Improved? Experimental evidence 
points to the conclusion that retentivity cannot be improved. 
The individual is born with a certain amount and a certain 
quality of neural tissue. Although he may exercise his mus¬ 
cles and make them grow larger and stronger, his neural tissue 
will not respond to similar treatment. The characteristics of 
our nervous system are what they are. No amount of effort or 
wishing will make them different. 

Only one thing can be done, and it is of the greatest im¬ 
portance: the ability that one possesses may be used to its 
utmost capacity. To quote William James: 

The secret of a good memory is thus the secret of forming di¬ 
verse and multiple associations with every fact that we wish to re¬ 
tain. But this forming of associations with a fact, what is it but 
thinking about the fact as much as possible and in as many ways 
as possible? Briefly then, of men with the same outward experi¬ 
ences and the same amount of native tenacity, the one who thinks 


258 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


over his experiences most, and weaves them into systematic rela¬ 
tions with each other, will be the one with the best memory. 1 

Age Differences in Memory. Thorndike has recently made 
rather extensive studies in memory for different age groups. 
While these studies did not determine whether the differences 
were primarily dependent upon ability to fixate, retain, or re¬ 
call, the general opinion is that memory depends upon all 
these factors. 

In general, Thorndike found that memory improved regu¬ 
larly from the earliest ages up to age 20. After that age there 
was little change in ability until about 40. At that age sheer 
ability is 15% less than at age 20. However, in material like 
that used by the average person the difference in ability is not so 
great as this. After 40 the loss increases but does not become 
serious before 65 to 70. These results tend to agree with the 
results of Professor Miles, who studied rapidity of skilled move¬ 
ments and mental alertness for different age groups. Miles 
found even a greater loss, in certain kinds of skills, due to age 
than has been found in other types of abilities. 

XL. Recall 

Memories are of value only if they function at the proper 
time. The problem of recall is to revive the most pertinent 
memories and to inhibit irrelevant ones. 

The Process of Recall. We often hear persons complain¬ 
ing that they cannot recall a thing. A study of the laws of 
memory will not enable us to recall everything we wish, but it 
will enable us to approach the problem in a more rational 
manner than by merely complaining. 

The most serious difficulty in recall comes from the fact that 
the material was never properly learned. If, when you meet 
a person, you are more concerned with the pretty speech you 
1 James, Wm., Principles of Psychology, Vol. I, p. 662. Holt, 1890. 


MEMORY 


259 


are trying to make than with his name, how do you expect 
to recall his name when you see him again? The sight of the 
person is more likely to recall your pretty speech than his name. 
If you browse through a textbook, dreaming about your best 
girl, when you come to answer an examination question you are 
more likely to recall visions of hair and eyes than material rele¬ 
vant to the examination. In short, the first step in the process 
of recall is adequate learning. 

The second factor is a stimulus adequate to revive the mem¬ 
ory. When two things are intimately related in our experience, 
the very presence of one member is often sufficient to bring up 
the other. For example, the sight of a dog immediately brings 
up the word dog. The sight of a good friend inevitably brings 
up his name. In less intimate connections the principle is ex¬ 
actly the same. The only difference is that the association is 
not so close and the same stimulus may be related to a number 
of different experiences with the result that the particular thing 
remembered depends upon auxiliary factors. For example, 
smoke may be a stimulus which makes us think of tobacco, a 
disastrous fire, or perdition. But we do not think of any of 
these ideas unless a stimulus is present. 

Consequently, we can make two approaches to the study of 
recall. In the one case we can take the memories which come 
to us and attempt to trace the present stimuli which gave rise 
to them. Such a study will indicate to us which types of con¬ 
nection dominated our past experience. Or we can give our¬ 
selves certain stimuli and note what memories or associations 
they call forth. 

An understanding of the process of recall gives us a means 
for controlling it. For example, if you cannot remember the 
name of a certain city, recall when you were there last, how 
many previous times you have been there, the way in which 
you arrived there, who was with you, whom you met there, 
and as many other details connected with the city as possible. 


26 o 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


By the use of these various associations, you are more likely 
to recall the name than by any one of them alone. 

Recognition as a Form of Recall. Recall may be more or 
less complete. When it is relatively imperfect or when many 
of the details are missing, the process may be called recognition. 
If we meet a person on the street he may look familiar to us. 
This feeling of familiarity is the lowest form of recognition. Or 
we may actually recognize a person as one we have met on some 
previous occasion but we cannot call up the time or place of 
the earlier meeting. This memory of an experience as a total 
pattern but without definite location is called recognition. 

Use of Recognition. Having once driven along a road, you 
may feel certain, on a future occasion, that you are on the 
same road, although you cannot tell upon what factors you 
base your judgment. You feel sure you have Seen a certain 
person before, but you cannot tell whether it is his hair, eyes, 
nose, or clothing upon which your recognition is based. In 
short, recognition makes orientation to our environment a rather 
simple process. We may say that it gives meaning to our ex¬ 
periences by means of the same principles as are operative in 
the process of perception. 

There is little doubt that music is more pleasing to us when 
we recognize some air, rhythm, or harmony in it. We cannot, 
many times, tell just what it is, nor could we reproduce it, but 
we enjoy it because of the familiarity. 

In legal practice the validity of recognition is credited when 
a person is asked to select from a group of persons the one 
whom he saw entering a house, boarding a street car, or en¬ 
gaged in a fight. 

Recognition of Faces and Recall of Names. Recognizing 
a face is obviously an easier process than recalling a name. 
The latter is a specific connection requiring adherence to the 
principles of recall, which we shall consider in a moment. 
Recognition requires only the most general type of experience. 


MEMORY 


261 


Consequently, when a person makes the statement that he can 
remember faces but not names, he is merely uttering a com¬ 
monplace. When you tell a person that you recognize him 
but cannot remember his name, you are, in effect, telling him 
that he made but a vague impression upon you. To be sure, 
he must have made more of an impression than if you had not 
remembered him at all, but to tell him that you merely recog¬ 
nize him is a sort of “ left-handed compliment.” 

There is a very good reason for our common inability to 
remember names. Generally, when we are being introduced to 
an individual, we are judging the person, forming our first 
opinion of him, and deciding whether we shall like or dislike 
him. Our attention is not directed toward the name, but 
rather away from it. Furthermore, the introducer often does 
not pronounce the name distinctly. The whole situation, there¬ 
fore, is not conducive to remembering the name. 

If we wish to improve our ability, we should pay particular 
attention to the name when we are introduced, and inquire 
what the name is if we do not understand it. Then we should 
avail ourselves of every opportunity to use the person’s name 
while we are talking with him. If we are particularly inter¬ 
ested in remembering the name, it may be advisable to write 
it down as soon as the interview has ended. 

Many salesmen find it valuable to keep lists of their cus¬ 
tomers and to review these frequently. Such a salesman, be¬ 
fore visiting a group of customers, will carefully go over the 
list of names to be sure he remembers each person. Significant 
facts about each person — his appearance, his tastes, his favor¬ 
ite sports, his probable reactions to the sale involved — if added 
to the list of names, will greatly increase the value of such a 
device. 

The author once knew the wife of a college dean who had a 
reputation for remembering the names of students and faculty 
members in the university. She explained that she spent much 


262 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


time in studying the student directory. When invited to a 
party by any group, she studied the list of names of those who 
were likely to be there. She noted their home addresses and 
other pertinent facts about them. This was simply an in¬ 
telligent way of becoming socially efficient. 




Fig. 53. Illustration of Error in Recognition 

Scene Y may easily be mistaken for Scene X because of the 
presence of similar elements. 


Errors in Recognition. We have all had the experience 
of recognizing a person or situation only to discover, to our 
embarrassment, that we were in error. We give a man a 
familiar slap on the back only to discover that he is not a 
friend but a stranger. We feel sure that we have been in 











































MEMORY 263 

a city before when we have evidence that we never have been 
there before. 

Such situations usually result from the fact that the general 
impression is the same as in the previous situation which gave 
rise to the recognition. The identifying details have been 
ignored in each case, and we have responded to the whole pat¬ 
tern. Figure 53 illustrates how this situation may occur. The 
two scenes are alike in general effect and it requires specific 
analysis to distinguish them. 

The fact that such errors may be made does not argue 
against the value of recognition. The number of such in¬ 
stances is small and their consequences unimportant when com¬ 
pared with the number of times we are benefited by accurate 
recognition. Repeated experiences with the same person or 
situation naturally enable us to become aware of more and 
more details until our memory is specific and we can indicate 
minute differences. In other words, we begin with recognition 
and gradually, in situations which are repeated often enough 
to warrant it, develop memory for details, thereby passing from 
the level of recognitive memory to that of recall. 

Recognition Value of Advertisements. In the psycho¬ 
logical laboratory a very simple means of measuring the recog¬ 
nition value of various stimuli has been developed. In serial 
order ten geometrical forms, portraits, words, or other stimuli 
are shown to the subject, each being exposed for only a few 
seconds. These ten stimuli are then mixed in random fashion 
with an equal number of similar objects which have not been 
shown, and the subject is required to identify the ones he has 
seen. 

Modifications of this technique have been used to study the 
effectiveness of advertisements. A number of advertisements 
are first shown in serial order and later presented with other 
advertisements which were not in the first group; then the 
subject attempts to identify those he has seen. Obviously, 


264 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


the good advertisement is the one which is most often recog¬ 
nized. Another method is to have a person casually leaf 
through a magazine, and later select from a large group of 
isolated advertisements the ones he has seen in the magazine. 

The theory underlying such experimentation is that if an 
advertisement possesses recognition value, it will, upon re¬ 
peated presentations, lead to greater familiarity and eventually 
to recall. Thus the chances that the individual will purchase 
the advertised article are increased. 

Spontaneous Recall. When memory is not exact or is with¬ 
out detail it may be called spontaneous recall. In such situa¬ 
tions the stimulus brings forth the appropriate response with 
relative ease and accuracy. In bodily movements such as walk¬ 
ing and other highly habituated acts, involving a sequence of 
reactions, one following immediately upon another, little or no 
attention is paid to the activity as it is carried on. Yet each 
phase of movement calls up the next. Another example of 
spontaneous recall is in our memory of familiar tunes or verses. 
What has happened is that certain factors in the stimulus have 
become linked with phases of the response in such a way that 
action occurs spontaneously and without attentive direction. 

Another example of spontaneous recall, on a higher level, 
occurs under such conditions as reverie. Here the past is seen 
in the mind’s eye, one experience succeeding another, each in 
its time and place. The complete series of implicit reactions 
involved constitutes a sequence as in the first case. One reac¬ 
tion is both the response to the preceding reaction and the 
stimulus for the revival of the following one. In reverie and 
daydreaming, the character of the recalled experiences will de¬ 
pend, to a great degree, upon the particular set of the indi¬ 
vidual at the time. For instance, after a good meal, in happy 
and congenial surroundings, a man stretches out in a nice com¬ 
fortable chair. He relaxes, as he enjoys his after-dinner cigar. 
The smoke drifting lazily toward the ceiling takes on different 


MEMORY 


265 


patterns; it becomes a screen for his memories. Boyhood ex¬ 
periences, childhood ambitions, and other memories blend with 
more recent things. One picture fades as another takes its place. 

Deliberate Recall. The fact that we are not always com¬ 
pletely habituated to our environment makes deliberate recall 
possible. Sometimes situations arise which create a problem. 
There is a deliberate and conscious effort to determine what 
the situation involves and what we must do about it. Here 
we call on our past experiences. We attend to the situation, 
we make an effort to adjust, we recall our past to aid us at the 
moment. In such a situation we respond selectively. Memory 
is utilized in a specific way. We recall significant facts, not 
haphazardly, but with a definite purpose. Here, the way in 
which our memory is organized plays an important role. In a 
sense our entire past becomes present. From it, we select those 
experiences which have particular significance for the problem 
at hand. The difference between this type of recall and reverie 
is that the motive or set is specific and definite. 

XLI. Methods of Economy in Learning 

Enough has been said to show that all methods of instruc¬ 
tion are not equally effective in learning. There is the further 
problem of how much instruction is best; that is, how much of 
learning should be a matter of the learner’s working out his 
own salvation. A few of the more important methods for se¬ 
curing economy in learning will be listed and described. 

Some Common Methods. Some one has said that psychol¬ 
ogy teaches one how to be lazy. At least it should teach us how 
to be more economical in learning. By this it is meant that we 
should learn how to learn anything in less time than we would 
otherwise be able to do or to learn more in a given time. 

James’s four laws of habit formation, explained in the 
preceding chapter, are methods for more efficient learning. In 
the present chapter we were told that (1) we should memorize 


266 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


with a specific purpose; (2) that vivid impressions last longer; 
(3) that recitations shorten the learning time; (4) that in some 
cases mnemonic devices are an aid in memory; (5) that in com¬ 
mitting to memory it is generally better to learn as a whole 
rather than in parts, and that rhythm helps memory. There 
are still other practical suggestions brought out by the studies 
of learning mentioned in these two chapters which should be 
stressed. 

Effect of Interest or Motivation on Learning. The law 
of effect has many practical applications in learning. Some of 
these applications have already been mentioned. The attitude 
of the learner toward his problem makes a great deal of differ¬ 
ence in the success of his learning. By this it is not meant 
that anyone can become anything that he wishes. We all have 
our limitations and these differ from one individual to another. 
The significant fact is that few, if any, of us reach the physio¬ 
logical limit. Men who have worked in a telegraph office for 
years and seemingly have become as nearly perfect as possible 
usually improve when given a more responsible position. 

Many industries have discovered that even a slight increase 
in salary or improved working conditions has produced a de¬ 
cided improvement in work. This is a very important fact 
when we consider the all-too-common irritations that exist be¬ 
tween labor and management. 

Professor Book trained two groups of college students in 
some simple problems involving associate learning. The stu¬ 
dents were divided into two groups of approximately equal 
ability. One group was motivated by being allowed to record 
their own progress. The other group worked without knowing 
their rate of progress. After ten practices the procedure was 
reversed. The result was that the motivated group in the first 
part of the experiment lost their advantage over the other 
group, while the second group suddenly gained an advantage 
upon receiving the motivation. 


MEMORY 


267 



Fig. 54. The Influence of Motivation on Learning 
(Adapted from W. F. Book, Pedagogical Seminary, Dec. 1922.) 


Effort Facilitates Learning. Common observation, as well 
as controlled experiments, indicates that we learn more when 
we try. When we are alert, our sense organs are ready to re¬ 
ceive impressions, our motor organs are all ready to respond, 
and the neural connections are more ready to function. 

Effort is generally closely related to interest. In order to 
bolster up both interest and effort, we should form a habit of 
doing whatever we do with all our might. When we work we 
should work, and when we play we should play with equal 
energy. We are all prone to be satisfied too easily. If we had 
some method of measuring effort, we should probably be able 
to separate the successful men as a group from the unsuccessful. 

One special phase of this problem of effort applies to reading. 
The writer has made several studies of the effect of rate of read¬ 
ing upon recall. These studies have been conducted with both 
children and adults. They show in every case that rapid read¬ 
ing is more efficient than slow reading. In one case the readers 
were asked to read “ at half their normal rate ” as well as rap¬ 
idly. At the slow rate they could not recall as much of what 







268 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


they had read as when the reading was at the normal rate. Es¬ 
pecially when the time saved is considered, rapid reading is 
much more efficient. It would be better for us to read our 
assignments over rapidly and then reread as much as possible 
rather than plod slowly over the material only once. 

The Value of Outlining. When the purpose of study is a 
thorough mastery of the material, it is advisable to outline the 
material in some way. This may be done by the use of a note¬ 
book or by underlining. The chief reasons for the value of 
such procedures are that it compels the reader to organize his 
material, and it also compels a virtual recitation of the im¬ 
portant points as the outline is constructed. 

Good Working Conditions and Learning. Good office 
conditions and good factory conditions are essential to maxi¬ 
mum efficiency. Such things will not in themselves produce 
results, but good results can hardly be secured without them. 
A study of successful businesses will show that there is a high 
correlation between working conditions and efficiency. 

Morgan has shown that certain distractions, such as noises, 
may actually increase output. At the University of Oregon 
a few years ago an experiment was conducted in which two 
groups of equal ability were given the same examination. One 
group was subjected to various distractions, such as the flash¬ 
ing on and off of a strong light, a medley of discordant noises, 
and men walking heavily on the floor above. Yet this group 
made a better score than the group working without distrac¬ 
tions. If, however, we could measure the energy expended, we 
should probably find the clue to the difference between the two 
groups. Although such tests may suggest a value in distrac¬ 
tions, such a method of increasing mental output is false econ¬ 
omy, if not a source of danger. We should not need a distrac¬ 
tion to produce greater effort. 

The Length of the Work Period. There are two parts to 
this problem. One concerns the length of working hours dur- 


MEMORY 269 

ing the day and week, and the other the distribution of work 
and rest periods during the day. 

The history of industrial progress since the Middle Ages has 
shown successive reductions in the hours of work. In early 
times men worked fifteen and even eighteen hours per day for 
six or seven days a week. This amount has been gradually re¬ 
duced until there is now a rather uniform eight-hour day, and 
in many industries even a five-and-a-half-day week. And this 
has taken place without a reduction in output. Watts gives 
the following: “ In one British factory during the war a de¬ 
crease from 58:02 to 41:02 in the average hours worked weekly 
was accompanied by an increase of 22 per cent in the output 
(sizing fuse bodies). In a second munition factory a decrease 
from 66:09 to 45:06 in the average hours worked weekly by 
women workers in turning aluminum fuse bodies resulted in an 
increase of 9 per cent in the output. In a third factory there 
was a fall of just 1 per cent (milling screw threads) when 
the average hours worked weekly were reduced and fell from 
64:09 to 48:01. The loss in this case, however, was more than 
counterbalanced by the saving in factory lighting and the wear 
and tear of machinery.” 1 Muscio says: “A large firm with 
shops both in Lancashire and in Belgium found that on iden¬ 
tical work the output per man was greater in Manchester with 
its fifty-one-hour week than in their Belgium factory, where 
the week ran to sixty-six hours.” 2 The same type of results has 
been found in other countries and in time of peace as well as 
war. Of course there is a limit to the amount of reduction in 
the hours of work. Too much leisure is not necessary or 
advisable. We have yet, to discover the optimum time for each 
industry. 

1 Watts, Frank, An Introduction to the Psychological Problems of 
Industry, p. 30. Copyright, 1921, by The Macmillan Company. Re¬ 
printed by permission. 

2 Muscio, Bernard, Lectures in Industrial Psychology, p. 67. Dutton, 
1920. 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


270 

There is the further problem of the best distribution of time 
of practice or work. Given a certain amount of time, what is 
the most effective distribution of it? Should all the time be 
spent in one practice or should it be distributed? Manifestly 
this is related to the time to be spent. If only fifteen minutes 
are allowed, probably one sitting is more efficient than two or 
more. On the other hand if twenty-four hours are to be de¬ 
voted to a task, the time should be distributed. Just how it 
should be distributed is another question. The answer de¬ 
pends upon the nature of the task and the person performing 
the task. If the task is some difficult, job, the time should be 
shorter per work period than for an easy job. A few minutes 
per period is enough at stoking a furnace. 

A child cannot work continuously for as long periods as 
an adult. Kirby seemed to find that two-minute practice peri¬ 
ods in drill in the fundamental operations in arithmetic were 
most advantageous. Pyle found thirty minutes to be the best 
period for adults in the rather difficult task of substituting ab¬ 
stract symbols for the letters in words. Manifestly, older 
children and adults may practice longer. 

There is the further related problem of whether there should 
be several practices in one day or longer rests between prac¬ 
tices. Work with both rats and men seems to show the best 
distribution of periods to be daily or every other day. 

There are probably individual differences in periods of maxi¬ 
mum efficiency and distribution of periods. The problem is 
closely related to that of fatigue. As yet we can only gen¬ 
eralize by saying that each person has the problem of discover¬ 
ing his best method of work for each type of task. A word 
of caution is necessary: a first feeling of fatigue, especially 
with routine work, is not a sure index of a reduction in 
efficiency. 

The Teacher as a Factor in Learning. The value of an 
efficient teacher has already been mentioned. There is a good 


MEMORY 


271 


deal of discussion these days about self-education in the course 
of which the teacher is often discredited and his place in the 
educational scheme discounted. It is true that education is 
an active process and that the student must do the learning; 
yet there is a real place in our educational system for the 
teacher. The best products of education generally come from 
the schools with the best teachers. At best self-education is 
wasteful and at worst it is likely to give wrong methods and 
results. 

Professor Carr has studied the value of instruction at dif¬ 
ferent periods in the learning process. He has found that it is 
just as easy to instruct too much as not, enough. He further 
found that more instruction should come at the beginning of 
the learning and that a smaller amount should be given as 
learning progresses. The conclusion seems to be that too much 
teaching is to be discouraged as well as too little. 

Learn by Practicing the Thing to Be Learned. How 
much will training in one subject help in other subjects? Some 
of the earlier psychologists contended that training was gen¬ 
eral and was transferred from one subject to another. This 
doctrine is known as transfer of training , or formal discipline. 

According to this theory, learning to operate a typewriter 
should help one when he attempts to learn telegraphy or to 
play the piano. Solving a puzzle should help him to perform 
in a maze. Playing tennis should make one a better football 
player or a faster swimmer. In these fields there is probably 
some transfer, for exercise of the fingers in one activity should 
make them more agile in any other type of activity. Athletic 
skill should improve one’s bodily control and make one more 
efficient in some other sport. 

This doctrine, however, went farther and contended that 
any kind of learning or training would help in totally irrelevant 
fields. It was applied most vigorously to academic subjects, 
and its votaries held that a study of Latin, Greek, and mathe- 


272 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


matics would make one a better telegraph operator, a more 
skilled mechanic, a better physician, or business man. 

About 1890 William James performed an experiment in 
learning by committing lines from Victor Hugo’s Satyr and 
then committing from Milton’s Paradise Lost. He then went 
back to Hugo’s poem in order to determine whether he could 
commit more rapidly than the first, time. He did not find that 
the practice on Paradise Lost improved his rate of learning 
Hugo’s Satyr} For many years the result of this experi¬ 
ment was accepted by many as proof that there is no such 
thing as transfer of training. 

Both extreme views regarding transfer of training are held. 
That training in one subject helps in the study of another has 
been held largely by language and mathematics teachers; that 
there is no transfer of training has been held by psychologists 
and teachers of education. 

Within the last twenty years many experiments have been 
conducted to throw light upon this problem. Some of these 
showed a great deal of transfer and others little. Some showed 
negative transfer; that is, practice in one task actually hin¬ 
dered work in another task. While there is diversity in the 
results, we may summarize by saying that the nearer two 
things are alike, the more transfer there will be. If the two 
were identical, theoretically there would be one hundred per 
cent transfer. If they were completely unlike, there would be 
no transfer. If performing one task were just the opposite of 
performing another, there would be negative transfer. 

The best way to learn anything is to practice on it, not on 
something similar to it. Even sorting cards has been found to 
improve slightly one’s ability in typing, but if one wants to 
learn typing, he had better practice typing rather than sorting 
cards or anything else. 

1 James, Wm, The Principles of Psychology, Vol. I., pp. 666 f. Holt, 
1890. 


MEMORY 


273 


Selected References 

Breese, B. B., Psychology, Chapter X. Scribner, 1921. 

Gault, R. H., and Howard, D. T., Outlines of General Psychology, 
Chapter IX. Longmans, 1925. 

James, William, Psychology, Briefer Course, Chapter XVIII. 
Holt, 1923. 

Pillsbury, W. B., Essentials of Psychology, Third Edition Chapter 
IX. Macmillan, 1930. 

Woodworth, R, S., Psychology, Third Edition, Chapters XIV-XV. 
Holt, 1934. 


CHAPTER IX 


THINKING 

XLII. Characteristics of Thinking 

Fine discriminations are usually essential for adjustment to 
a complex situation. Blunders can usually be traced to failure 
to take note of some distinction which, on the surface, may 
appear to be trivial but which is actually the key to the prob¬ 
lem. Equally important is the ability to discern in succeed¬ 
ing situations general elements, as well as the ability to unite 
these in the form of general principles by means of which 
new problems can be solved. < 

Maladjustment, the Stimulus to Discrimination. In our 

study of perception, it will be recalled, we found that a per¬ 
son will use a single item or a few items of a situation as a cue 
and respond as he did on a former occasion when the cue was 
present. The cue is a stimulus to a response which was suc¬ 
cessful on a previous occasion when the cue was merely a part 
of the total situation. The same reaction may lead to desirable 
results or may eventuate in a blunder. If you bow courteously 
to a girl in a coonskin coat which you have seen before only 
to discover that, while the coat appears to be the same, the 
girl in it is not, you learn to look thereafter at the girl as well 
as the coat before you speak. | 


The little child, upon being told that a certain book he sees 
is a Bible, will call all books Bibles. He has to learn to dis¬ 
tinguish different kinds of books. A soft, hairy thing is called 
a kitty and henceforth, until he gets more experience, every 
furry thing — his mother’s coat and the tiger-skin rug — are all 


274 


THINKING 


2 75 

kitties. Who has not heard a child call a canoe a ship, an 
apartment building a cottage, a rivulet a river, and a lion a 
kitten? Mental maturity is largely a process of building finer 
and finer distinctions. Words are only means of expressing 
these distinctions, but they are very effective means, and, for 
this reason, a man’s vocabulary is a very good index of his 
intellectual maturity. 

It is relatively easy to distinguish small differences in ob¬ 
jective things and events, but it is often very difficult to use 
discrimination in our dealings with persons. Since adjustment 
to others is such an essential part of the organization of life, 
a knowledge of psychology should be of great value. A novice 
in psychology is likely to make a mistake similar to the blun¬ 
der made by the young child; namely, he fails to discriminate. 
He learns that there are some general principles which govern 
human conduct, and then assumes that all persons are alike in 
their personalities. The expert learns that, while there are 
general principles, they appear in a different combination in 
each person. Such ability to discriminate enables the expert 
to make intelligent adjustments to a great variety of persons. 

Relevant and Irrelevant Distinctions. The wise man 
makes distinctions which give him adequate control of the 
situations in which he finds himself. The essential point is 
not merely to make discriminations, but to make relevant ones. 

A father once bought his boy a stick of candy. The boy 
was dissatisfied and told his father he wanted two pieces; 
whereupon the parent said, “ All right, I will make two pieces 
for you,” and broke the stick into two pieces. The boy’s face 
brightened and he was satisfied. This illustrates a childish 
lack of distinction between amount and number, but many 
adults are deceived by similar tricks. A company will split its 
stock and give two shares for each one previously held. The 
holders think they have gained something of value. They 
have nothing more — only the old stock broken into two pieces. 


2 7 6 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

Of course, it is possible that through market manipulation or 
improvement of manufacturing conditions added values may 
result, but it is just as likely that the whole procedure is an¬ 
other case of “ watering ” the stock. 

A salesman was trying to sell a refrigerator to the owner of a 
restaurant. The owner said he could not make the pay¬ 
ments of fifty dollars a month. The salesman replied that he 
could arrange that: the owner could pay sixty-five dollars more 
von the first payment, sixty-five extra at the end of the first 
year, and thereby reduce his monthly payments to thirty-five 
dollars a month. The owner was satisfied with this conces¬ 
sion ” because his attention was diverted to the irrelevant de¬ 
tail of the amount paid per month instead of being fixed on the 
important consideration of the total amount paid during the 
year. A man who bought a lotion from a druggist complained 
that the druggist was charging as much for three ounces as was 
charged for four ounces in another store. The druggist agreed 
to give four ounces for that price. He poured the lotion into 
a four-ounce bottle, added an ounce of water, changed the 
label from an 8 per cent to a 6 per cent solution, and satisfied 
his customer. Life is full of instances where adults are duped 
because in the process of distinguishing irrelevant details they 
fail to note the significant thing. 

Experimental Analysis of Differing Factors. If satisfac¬ 
tory adjustment requires that a person distinguish relevant 
from irrelevant differences, by what means can he discover 
which are significant distinctions? Usually one hears two 
answers to this question. One is that the person can experi¬ 
ment, or make various trial-and-error reactions, until he learns 
the significance of the differences he observes. The other is 
that the person can reason, and thus arrive at some evaluation. 
The difference between these two processes has usually been 
advanced as the distinguishing mark between man and animals. 
For example, James said: 


THINKING 


277 


Cats have been known to open doors by pulling latches, and so 
forth. But no cat, if the latch got out of order, could open the 
door again, unless some new accident of random fumbling taught 
her to associate some new total movement with the total phe¬ 
nomenon of the closed door. A reasoning man, however, would 
open the door by first analyzing the hindrance. He would ascertain 
what particular feature of the door was wrong. The lever, for ex¬ 
ample, does not raise the latch sufficiently from its slot — case of 
insufficient elevation — raise the door bodily on hinges! Or Aoor 
sticks at top by friction against lintel — press it bodily down! Now 
it is obvious that a child or an idiot might without this reasoning 
learn the rule for opening that particular door. I remember a 
clock which the maid servant had discovered would not go unless 
it was supported so as to tilt slightly forwards. She had stumbled 
on this method after many weeks of groping. The reason of the 
stoppage was the friction of the pendulum-bob against the back of 
the clock-case, a reason which an educated man would have analyzed 
in five minutes. 1 

In any case the occurrence of a new hindrance — an un¬ 
usual difficulty — leads to experimental reactions in an en¬ 
deavor to discover the significant difference between this situa¬ 
tion and others which we have solved. An animal or a person 
of low intelligence does a great amount of fumbling and often 
discovers the solution to the problem by mere chance. Even 
then, the animal or the idiot may not see the significance of 
the actions that brought about the solution. 

The intelligent man varies his experimental procedure. He 
searches for differences between the present problem and 
previous problems of a similar nature. He then relates his 
experiments to these differences. Furthermore, he takes par¬ 
ticular note of the various things he tries, and, when he finds 
that a specific movement does not bring success, he alters his 
attack. The unintelligent person and the animal will repeat 
the same thing over and over in identical fashion. 

1 James, Wm, Principles of Psychology, Vol. II, p. 339. Holt, 1890. 


2 7 8 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

The intelligent person also does a third thing, which we call 
reasoning. Before making any overt reaction, he revives memo¬ 
ries of similar past experiences and compares them with the 
present situation. He speculates as to what may happen if he 
does this, that, or the other thing; and finally, after deciding 
in the light of previous experience what will happen if he does 
a specific thing, he tries it out. In short, he tests his solution 
in his mind before he puts it into action. 

Insight as a Result of Experiment. There is a difference 
between a reasoned experiment and tinkering. The object of 
a true experiment is to make finer distinctions, to make the 
statement of our problem more and more specific until it is 
finally reduced to some simple alternative which can be tested 
under controlled conditions. Take the case of the sticking 
door described by James. We have gone through doors that 
did not stick. Since this door sticks, it must be different from 
other doors we have known; so we try to discover the way in 
which it differs. Perhaps this door is green and we have never 
seen a green door before. In all our previous experience have 
we ever found color related to sticking? No. Then we must 
discard that theory. But paint — we have known paint to 
cause sticking. Perhaps that is the cause of the difficulty. 
When we push the upper part of the door, we notice that it 
moves back from the door jamb. It is not sticking at the 
top. We try the bottom and find that it moves back there 
also. But when we try at the middle, we find that it does 
not move away. We have found the point of the diffi¬ 
culty. Now what is its cause? Is it the paint at the middle of 
the door? We observe that other things than paint might cause 
it to stick. The knob turns, the catch moves. But does it move 
far enough? Now it could be two things, the paint or the catch. 
So our problem is resolved into the question of which it is. 
When we turn the knob, it does not move so far as other knobs 
in our experience; so we favor the hypothesis that the catch is 
causing the door to stick. We test our hypothesis by turning 


THINKING 


279 

the knob the other way. If the door opens, we conclude that 
when we turn the knob in one direction the catch is not released. 
We have solved our problem. 

In short, if we do not perceive a difference between the pres¬ 
ent situation and a previous one, we respond to the present 
situation in the manner which brought us success before. If 
such a reaction brings failure, we investigate further, to dis¬ 
cover differences between this and similar previous experiences. 
Having observed a difference, we experiment to determine 
whether the difference is a significant one. If we solve our 
problem in this manner, we have gained insight into the signifi¬ 
cant difference between the two situations. There may be a 
number of other differences, but we have learned that they are 
not of primary importance for the solution of our problem. 

XLIII. Thinking as Adjustment 

Thinking is hypothetical adjustment. It has developed to 
a very high degree in man because, in addition to being en¬ 
dowed with a very complicated nervous structure, man has 
devised speech symbols to help him. How these cooperate in 
the thinking process will be discussed in this section. 

The Importance of Thinking in Adjustment. The impor¬ 
tance of a man’s ability to learn new ways of meeting en¬ 
vironmental needs cannot be overestimated. The capacity to 
acquire an adequate understanding of new relationships is a 
mark of intelligence of a high degree. The ability to get be¬ 
yond the necessity of testing possible solutions by overt trial 
and error makes for a more adequate survival in the struggle 
for existence. A rat cornered turns and fights. It risks its life 
with every overt attempt to meet the situation. A monkey may 
make one random movement after another as it seeks to grasp 
a banana beyond reach. A man confronted with a problem 
thinks. The selection of a possible solution comes only after 
he has in imagination tried out many ways of responding. 
Conditions under Which Thinking Takes Place. Most of 


280 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


our waking life requires some form of adjustment more or less 
under our control. In the main, we are faced with few real 
problematical situations. The daily round of things to do be¬ 
comes fairly routine. The individual recognizes the environ¬ 
mental demands and reacts to them by organizations of habits 
approximately adequate. He perceives relationships that 
have been previously established, remembers familiar names 
and faces, and makes routine adjustments. All this involves 
thinking on what has been called the perceptual level. 

But the environment is not a fixed and stable thing. The 
situations which demand responses from the individual are 
sometimes sufficiently unfamiliar to require new adjustments. 
Then the individual has to repattern his habits, establish new 
coordinations, and become aware of new relationships before he 
achieves a satisfactory adjustment. This type of adjustment 
involves imagination and reasoning. By his power to think 
man gains his tremendous adaptability. He controls the natu¬ 
ral forces which are often too great for lesser creatures and, 
going a step farther, he develops ways and means of improv¬ 
ing on nature. 

Mechanisms Used in Thinking. Thus far we have given 
a very general description of thinking in terms of the part it 
plays in the life history of the individual. We now turn to 
an analysis of the process. First, we shall attempt to describe 
the physiological processes which occur when a man thinks. 
Later, we shall try to describe or interpret thinking in terms of 
the verbal organization it takes in its more formal aspects. 

Traditional psychology emphasized the fact that the cere¬ 
bral cortex was the physical mechanism upon which think¬ 
ing depended, and without doubt, this highly complex struc¬ 
ture is an essential factor in thought. However, as has been 
pointed out in an earlier chapter, the organism does not nor¬ 
mally function in parts, but as a whole, and we may reasonably 
expect that this tendency is maintained in the act of thinking. 


THINKING 


281 


One of the most prominent reactions involved in thought is 
speech. Observe yourself as you think. Quite likely you will 
notice a tendency to say subvocally the words which are used 
to symbolize the act or the situation. Most observers agree 
that internal speech is of tremendous importance in thinking. 
Tightening of the skeletal muscles is also likely to occur when 
an individual is attempting to solve a problem. Professor Bills 
of the University of Chicago made a study of this phenomenon 
and found that when the body is relaxed, the mind does not do 
its best thinking. Some investigators have observed that vis¬ 
ceral reactions are also involved. Respiration seems to in¬ 
crease in rate and circulatory changes occur. 

It is evident that the whole organism is involved in think¬ 
ing- The cerebral cortex, with its millions of possible neural 
connections, furnishes an adequate correlating center; the 
striped and smooth muscles each play a part in the total reac¬ 
tion pattern. Now the question may be raised, “ What mech¬ 
anism plays the dominant role? ” Watson and others hold 
that the laryngeal muscles involved in speech play this im¬ 
portant part. This position appears reasonable when we con¬ 
sider that verbalized reactions are by far the most useful in 
thought. Words may involve whole patterns of implicit re¬ 
actions. An economy and a refinement of adjustment should 
result from this focalization of the reaction pattern. 

That other effector mechanisms have a part is equally evi¬ 
dent. Some persons say that they can think better on their 
feet, meaning that a certain set of the body is necessary for 
satisfactory thinking. Other persons appear to have become 
habituated to different postural adjustments, such as waving 
the hands and arms. 

In conclusion, we may describe the physiology of the thought 
process in this manner: Confronted with a problematical situa¬ 
tion, the individual adopts that type of attentive attitude best 
suited to a quick determination of what the situation demands. 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


282 

Afferent impulses, peripherally aroused, produce implicit re¬ 
actions. These reactions, in turn, become stimulating con¬ 
ditions for further implicit reactions. The cerebral cortex 
maintains the role of the central connecting and integrating 
mechanism. The skeletal and smooth muscles are involved 
in the reaction. Predominant in this continuum of activity is 
the action'of the laryngeal muscles that furnish the mechanism 
for complicated verbalization. Old habits are aroused and 
repatterned. Partial arcs and residues of previous reactions 
develop into a new form of coordination. Over all this, the im¬ 
plicit activity of the larynx verbalizes the potential reactions 
as they are integrated into a new pattern. Implicit trial and 
error become symbolized in speech until one pattern of re¬ 
action becomes overt in behavior. 

Language and Thought. In the foregoing paragraph, we 
have given the dominant role in thinking to the speech mech¬ 
anism. It would be a mistake to limit thinking to this ac¬ 
tivity alone. It would be sheer dogmatism to maintain that 
without activity of the vocal cords thought is impossible. On 
the other hand, we must recognize that the ability to substitute 
words for acts is most useful in successful adaptation. The 
baby who has not yet learned to talk has to depend on the 
skill with which its parents can observe and interpret its behav¬ 
ior. The infant’s early cries soon become differentiated. By 
the time it is six months old, it can make as many as sixty-four 
different sounds. At a later period still, some of these sounds, 
slightly elaborated, are used as substitutes for objects and acts. 
Spoken words become stimuli which produce specific actions 
on the part of the child. Recognition of words heard pre¬ 
cedes the ability to speak them, but these two elements in the 
acquirement of speech habits by the child are closely related. 

As the child acquires a vocabulary, another step in his de¬ 
velopment takes place. At first the use of the words is very 
primitive, but as the child’s adjustments become more dis- 


THINKING 


283 

criminating, his speech becomes more adequate. At first any 
animal may be called dog, but later animals are called by 
their correct names. The word animal becomes a general 
concept, while the word dog becomes a specific concept for a 
particular kind of animal. The concept has its inception in the 
developing discriminatory capacity of the child as related to the 
habits of speech. As soon as objects have meanings not ex¬ 
plicitly present in the sensory data, the verbalized part of the 
reaction to the objects begins to function as a concept. Gradu¬ 
ally the tendency toward generalization and abstraction be¬ 
comes more explicit. A word may have specific or general 
significance. It may be used to symbolize a single reaction or 
a pattern of reactions. It may have individual or general 
reference. 

During the life history of an individual, his perceptual life 
becomes progressively enriched by his constant adaptations. 
His world becomes more meaningful; so his thought becomes 
proportionately enriched. Instead of responding with a great 
many explicit reactions, he utters a word. He economizes time 
and energy. By making use of words, which have so much 
implicit significance, a person can convey to other individuals 
his solution of a common problem. 

The Use of Concepts. The word concept as it has just 
been used refers to the name for a class of objects. If I am 
looking at a dog, I have a percept of a dog. If I think of this 
same dog when it is not present, my mental process is a mem¬ 
ory. If, on the other hand, I am thinking of the class of objects 
called dogs, I am employing a concept. Concepts are general 
symbols which function in our solving of problems. 

Man relates concepts to form a judgment. Judgments do 
not result in any new discovery of relationships existing be¬ 
tween concepts, but merely in a verbalization, in explicit or 
implicit form, of associations previously experienced. For in¬ 
stance, a person may say, “ This is a bright sunny day/’ or 


284 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


“ The rose is red,” or “ That paper is white.” In each sen¬ 
tence the person has related certain sensory impressions to 
previously experienced ones. Old associations have become re¬ 
enforced by the new expression of relationship. Most of our 
perceptual life is made up of activities of this nature. The 
essential factor of creative thought — namely, a problematical 
situation or a felt difficulty — is not present. 

Sometimes a situation arises in which the thinker makes an 
assertion regarding the relationship of the several factors in¬ 
volved which depends upon the individual’s awareness of pos¬ 
sibilities not explicit in the stimuli. Such an assertion is called 
an inference. The making of inferences is a definite step in 
the reasoning process, as we shall see later. Illustrations of a 
judgment and an inference may make the difference between 
them a little clearer. If one says, on looking at a picture, 
“ This picture is a miniature,” he is making a statement based 
on the sensory data of size and composition, which are a part 
of the stimulating situation. This is a judgment. If the person 
says, “ This picture is a very rare work of art,” he is making 
an inference. He has related what he knows about painting 
and artistry to the perceptual relationships immediately es¬ 
tablished as reactions by the first response to the stimulus 
situation and has evolved therefrom a new concept which may 
or may not be true, but which is capable of being proved. 

In every problematical situation, one has to establish the 
problem by means of judgment and formulate the basis for 
solution by inferences which are evaluated and tested. 

Generalization. Closely related to concepts are generaliza¬ 
tions. Generalizations are a further step and more complex 
than concepts. By selecting recurring features in successive 
situations man is able to generalize. If I go back over my 
past, I may recall that in 1920 it snowed in the winter. In 
1921, 1922, 1923, and so on until this year, it has snowed 


THINKING 


285 


every winter. From these facts I can generalize and say that, 
as far as I can recall, it has always snowed in the winter. Gen¬ 
eralization is thus nothing more than isolating the common 
element in a series of experiences. It is extremely valuable, 
because it gives us clues upon which we can base our reactions. 
From generalization we can proceed to various forms of think¬ 
ing. But because such procedure has its dangers, one should 
understand clearly the significance of generalization in relation 
to expectation and prediction in order to avoid error in his 
thinking. Since it has snowed every single winter in my ex¬ 
perience, am I justified in making the statement, “ It always 
snows in winter,” or “ It will snow this winter ”? The first is 
a statement of a principle and the latter is a prediction. Can 
I legitimately make predictions or deduce abstractions from 
generalizations? 

Generalization and Prediction. Predictions made on the 
basis of a generalization derived from a very few experiences 
are unwarranted. Those based on a generalization that is de¬ 
rived from a large number of experiences may be valid, but 
even in this case the prediction is merely the expression of an 
expectation. The sun has risen without fail every day of my 
life. Others who lived before me report that it has never failed 
to rise. Hence, the expectation that the sun will rise to-morrow 
may be justified. But even such a well-substantiated generali¬ 
zation does not prove that the sun will rise to-morrow. It sim¬ 
ply confirms my expectation that it will. 

The dangers that lie in prediction based upon a generaliza¬ 
tion derived from a single experience may be illustrated by an 
extreme example. A young man who has been jilted by a girl 
makes the generalization that all girls are untrustworthy. It 
would be just as silly to generalize from a single tossing of a 
coin that heads would invariably turn up whenever the coin 
was tossed. Repeated tossings of the coin show that approxi- 


286 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


mately half of the time heads turn up and half the time tails. 
Thus, on the basis of a great many tossings we have a rea¬ 
sonable expectation that in the long run we shall get fifty per 
cent of each. 

Great numbers of such expectations govern our lives. They 
provide short cuts for adjusting our living, and are very valu¬ 
able so long as we remember that they are only expectations, 
with varying degrees of possibility for eventuation. Gener¬ 
alization and expectation play an important part in what we 
ordinarily call thinking. 

Generalization and Abstract Principles. If we can dis¬ 
cover some common element in successive experiences, our 
expectation of what will happen becomes more certain than 
the probability that the future will repeat the past. If we can 
see such a thread of relationship, we usually attempt to form 
some statement that will express it; that is, we make an 
abstraction. 

This procedure is illustrated by a test used in the Stanford 
Revision of the Binet-Simon Scale. It runs something like this: 
“ If you fold a sheet of paper once and tear a piece from the 
folded edge, there will be one hole in the paper when you open 
it. Fold it twice and tear a piece from the folded edge, and 
there will be two holes in the sheet when you open it. Fold 
it three times, and there will be four holes; four times and there 
will be eight holes; five times and there will be sixteen holes; 
six times and there will be thirty-two holes. If you fold it 
again, how many holes will there be? ” From this series of 
tearings the intelligent man can derive a principle which might 
be stated as follows: Each folding doubles the number of holes 
the tearing will make. By applying this principle, I can pre¬ 
dict that if I fold the sheet of paper ten times and tear a piece 
from the folded edge, there will be 512 holes in the sheet when 
I open it. I have never seen it demonstrated, but I am sure 


THINKING 


287 

that, were it tried, the result would be 512 holes in the sheet as 
predicted. 

It is in this respect that the intelligent man surpasses his 
less intelligent fellows. He not only generalizes and predicts 
on the basis of these generalizations, but he also derives prin¬ 
ciples which state abstractly the relationship between series 
of events. By means of these principles he is able to predict 
with certainty what will happen in hypothetical situations 
where these principles apply. 

Types of Thought. On the purely perceptual level, think¬ 
ing has been further described as reverie and as routine 
thinking. 

1. Reverie. Reverie, Dewey suggests, makes up the greater 
part of mental life. It is essentially the same as daydreaming. 
In reverie, as has been noted, one thought follows another in 
a more or less random fashion. Some stimulus serves as the 
starting point and each succeeding implicit reaction acts as a 
stimulus to the next one. There is a general relaxed condition 
of the muscles, and sometimes a definitely pleasant affective 
tone to the associated thoughts. This type of thinking is es¬ 
sentially passive in character. Sometimes we are merely re¬ 
calling past experiences; more often, we are imagining situa¬ 
tions and reactions in which we see ourselves playing a more 
prominent role than is actually the case in life. The best that 
can be said for this type of thought is that it tends to keep past 
experience available for use when needed. The worst that may 
be said is that, carried to extremes, such thought leads the 
individual to become self-indulgent. The satisfaction gained 
from wishful daydreaming may make daydreaming more and 
more necessary to happiness. Imaginings may become a sub¬ 
stitute for the more virile activity which results from a positive 
adjustment to the environment as it actually is. Fleeing from 
reality by this means is dangerous. The young fellow who, 


288 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


failing to answer the boss effectively, spends his day imagining 
clever retorts he might have made instead of drawing useful 
lessons from the actual experience is making life increasingly 
difficult for himself. 

There are times when reverie becomes productive of some¬ 
thing useful. A writer of advertising copy once told the author 
of his efforts to think of a slogan for a particular advertisement. 
Try as he might, nothing even partially satisfactory would 
come. Sometime afterward, as he was thinking about it in a 
most casual manner, a very effective slogan occurred to him. 
A similar instance is that of a man of large responsibility who, 
quietly musing over the day’s work, was startled by the char¬ 
acter of his reverie. He had imagined a type of office organiza¬ 
tion which, when it was later put into operation, saved his firm 
money and made a reputation for himself. 

2. Routine thinking. Routine thinking is closely related to 
reverie, but it is slightly more active in character. In this type 
of mental life, familiar, tangible objects make demands which 
are immediately recognized and met. For example, a man re¬ 
calls the name of the person who steps up to his desk. He 
greets him, and asks about his recent trip. Again, he remem¬ 
bers that to-day certain reports have to be made ready, and 
calls for the necessary materials and a stenographer. 

When the environment becomes so highly stabilized that the 
only type of adjustment required is that which is based on 
habits previously formed, which involves little reorganization 
of habit patterns, and which calls for no new modes of response, 
routine thinking reigns supreme. Persons continually in this 
kind of environment get into a rut. Living in a ready-made 
situation, they lose intellectual vigor and adaptability. New 
situations, instead of challenging them, make them angry or 
dissatisfied. Business policies, long since inadequate, are not 
changed because they involve adjustments out of the routine 


THINKING 


289 

order of things. The status quo seems adequate because the 
only responses the individual makes are to stimuli to which he 
has become habituated. 

Routine thinking may be described further in terms of the 
situation in which it is carried on. For instance, one may de¬ 
liberately attempt to recall a specific order of events leading 
up to or following a particular experience. In this case, the 
line of thought is given direction by the end that is desired. It 
is productive only in the sense that it reproduces the earlier 
experience. The problem involves merely the correct reestab¬ 
lishment of memories; it does not create a need for the dis¬ 
covery of new relationships. A person on the witness stand is 
often asked to relate what he did on a certain day. A stock¬ 
broker recalls the fluctuation in price of a certain stock over 
a period of weeks. A salesman, outlining his itinerary, recalls 
his previous trip. These are illustrations of routine thinking. 

Again, we may include in this discussion a very common 
type of thinking found frequently in the classroom or in any 
situation in which direction is given to the behavior of indi¬ 
viduals by some other person. A teacher may state a problem 
and then solve it for the class. The members of the group at¬ 
tempt to understand the significance of the procedure and the 
principles involved, as revealed by the directed inquiry of the 
teacher. A prospective buyer is in the same situation when a 
salesman delivers a planned sales talk in which every advan¬ 
tage of the product to be sold is discussed and evaluated. 

The distinction between reverie and routine thinking is to be 
found in the character of the stimulating conditions and in the 
directional or purposeful nature of the reactions. In reverie, 
as we have found, each thought as it develops becomes an im¬ 
mediate stimulus for the subsequent thought. This is the rea¬ 
son that we sometimes think of reverie as being a subjectively 
determined process. There is no definite direction or order 


290 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


in the sequence of reveries except that direction which the 
pattern of the individual’s past experience and his general 
affective attitude happen to give it. The person who is well 
fed and satisfied with life has a different type of reverie from 
the individual who is hungry or dissatisfied. One thinks pleas¬ 
ant things about the world and himself; the other very likely 
finds his thoughts tinged with bitterness and his reverie most 
unsatisfying. In routine thinking, however, the stimulating 
situation is more tangible, and the associated ideas are specific 
with reference to the needs of the situation. 

3. Other types of thinking. It must not be inferred from the 
foregoing discussion that reverie and routine thinking con¬ 
stitute the only kinds of thinking. Imagination is closely re¬ 
lated to both of these. Reverie, routine thinking, and imagina¬ 
tion may all be considered as simple types of thinking. In 
addition to these there is a more complex type of thinking 
which is generally called reasoning. Reasoning is the highest 
type of thinking. Reasoning as a form of thinking will be 
discussed in a later section of this chapter. 

XLIV. Imagination 

We often save ourselves, costly errors by adjusting to hypo¬ 
thetical situations. If we try various reactions in our im¬ 
aginings, we can put into effect only the one that promises 
success. Properly used, imagination results finally in a re¬ 
action to our environment, as happens when imaginations be¬ 
come ambitions. If it is used as a substitute for adjusting to 
our environment, it may end in useless daydreams. 

Nature of Imagination. Whether we are in reverie, doing 
routine thinking, or reasoning, the past plays a large part in 
the process. The name imagination is given to the reinstate¬ 
ment of the past event or object. When the imagination is a 
relatively true representation of what has happened it is called 


THINKING 


291 


reproductive imagination or memory. It is literally a living 
over of the past. This is especially characteristic of what hap¬ 
pens in routine thinking. 

When traces of memory are patterned into some new form 
we have what is called creative or productive imagination. 
Productive imagination is the basic activity in all creative 
work. Science and invention, art and philosophy depend upon 
it. Any new invention or scientific hypothesis is the result of 
the process of fashioning the past, and all that it involves, into 
a new pattern. It is like the old, yet it is new. Every part 
is comparable to something already experienced; yet the total 
pattern is a new product. The composer writes his imagined 
music; the architect builds his dream into brick and stone and 
brass; the philosopher weaves his intricate web of thought. 
Here creative imagination functions and creative energy gives 
it objective reality. 

Imagination and Effective Adjustment. Imagination, as 
a productive function, sometimes reduces to pure fancy. Many 
persons build for themselves a dream world which rivals the 
world of reality as far as they are concerned. Fanciful con¬ 
struction on the part of children is a very natural thing; a little 
bit of such activity in adults is not undesirable. 

After one has done the best he can to adjust to an actual 
situation, he may go over in his mind what has occurred and, 
by means of internal manipulation of the situation, make hy¬ 
pothetical adjustments which he thinks would have been more 
effective than those he did make. If his actual adjustment 
was a very faulty one, he may have had some very uncom¬ 
fortable feelings connected with the whole scene. In the im¬ 
aginary reactions which he later makes, these undesirable ele¬ 
ments are usually lacking. He makes a better adjustment, 
feels much happier about it, and may actually be elated over 
his hypothetical victory. 


292 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Such a procedure may lead to two types of habitual re¬ 
sponse. The person may get so much joy from his imagined 
victories and so much pain from his actual failures that he 
tends to minimize the importance of actual accomplishment 
and revel in his fancied prowess. In other words, he becomes 
a daydreamer. The temptation to such a procedure is very 
great, for it is easy to succeed in imagination but very difficult 
to succeed in reality, especially when the factors in the real 
situation do not lend themselves to as easy manipulation as 
do the imaginary factors. When one finds himself spending 
too much time daydreaming, he can assume that life has been 
unsatisfactory to him and that he is adopting this means as a 
substitute for actually adjusting to reality. 

To overcome this condition the individual should not en¬ 
deavor to suppress his imagination. What he should do is to 
choose the second of the two types of response that are pos¬ 
sible; that is, he should use his imaginary success as a guide 
in making future adjustments more successful. In short, his 
daydreaming becomes transformed into an ambition. One can¬ 
not be ambitious without picturing a future which is much 
more desirable than the present. This imaginary process pre¬ 
supposes dissatisfaction with the present; but instead of stop¬ 
ping with the present or with vain imaginings of what the 
future may be, the ambitious person tries to relate his present 
situation to the imagined future and work toward it by ad¬ 
justment to the real facts of life. For example, a person who 
makes a very poor performance when he tries to play a violin 
may get much satisfaction from imagining he is a Kreisler, but 
if he is so satisfied with this picture that he ceases to practice 
his music, he is doing himself an injury. If, on the other hand, 
he uses the vision of himself as a Kreisler as an incentive to 
keep practicing and improving, his imagination serves a very 
useful end. 


t 


THINKING 


293 


An active imagination is essential to effective adjustment. 
Under proper control, it makes possible a more satisfying life. 
The ability to anticipate possibilities by correctly constructing 
them out of relationships found in previous experiences makes 
a person better equipped to cope with the problems of adjust¬ 
ment and prepares him to meet new demands when they arise. 

Before any new invention becomes tangible, it is imagined 
in the mind of man. Before any audience is thrilled by great 
music, that blending of harmonies was conceived in the mind 
of a genius. Every great business, every great social advance, 
was imagined and reasoned into ideal form long before the first 
effective efforts toward tangibility were made. No matter how 
satisfactory a situation, man possesses the ability to imagine 
something better. No problem is so complex that it does not 
challenge his interest and fire his imagination. 

Imagination and Thinking. Imaginary processes are of 
vital importance in thinking. A person may adjust without any 
imaginary processes. He can, when confronted with a problem, 
try successive reactions until he meets with a modicum of 
success. But in thinking, he first tries various solutions in his 
imaginings, only putting to actual test those which seem to be 
feasible. When such processes become extended and compli¬ 
cated it is usually called reasoning. 


XLV. Reasoning 

We have shown that thinking involves discrimination, gen¬ 
eralizations, experimentation with close observation of the re¬ 
sults, and the use of imaginary processes. All of these can be 
gathered into a specific technique called reasoning. The stu¬ 
dent will note that the outline of this technique is practically 
the same as that described in the first chapter as the scientific 
method. 


294 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Steps in the Reasoning Process. In his book How We 
Think / John Dewey has outlined the steps in the reasoning 
process. These are listed as: (i) the problem or felt difficulty, 
(2) a statement of the problem, (3) the development of pos¬ 
sible solutions, (4) the tentative acceptance of one solution, 
(5) its final acceptance or rejection on the basis of proof. 

1. The problem or felt difficulty. From the point of view 
of relationship between the individual and his world, reasoning 
may be said to appear when some maladjustment is present. 
The degree of maladjustment may vary. It may be so slight 
that a hasty investigation of it and a minor shift in adaptive 
action will suffice to bring about a satisfactory adjustment. 
On the other hand, the maladjustment may be so great and 
the clues as to possible solutions so vague that a prolonged 
effort may be required. An illustration of the former type of 
maladjustment is the everyday conflict in deciding which tie 
or suit to wear. The scientific investigations of Pasteur or the 
monumental efforts of Darwin illustrate the second type of 
problem. 

2. The statement of the problem. Language, with its sym¬ 
bolic forms by means of which the factors in the problem are 
related, occurs with the statement of the problem. The de¬ 
gree to which difficulty is experienced in stating the problem 
depends upon its complexity and novelty. In many instances 
there is an overlapping between the statement of the problem 
and the possible solution. Overlapping occurs most frequently 
when the maladjustment occurs often and has many aspects 
which are familiar. Usually the problem is stated in the form 
of a judgment or a series of judgments. 

3. The development of possible solutions. After the gen¬ 
eral character of the problem has been stated or recognized, 
the individual proceeds to discover relationships between fac¬ 
tors within the total situation. He makes use of his past ex- 

1 Cf. Dewey, John, How We Think, Revised Edition, pp. 107-115. 
Heath, 1933. 


THINKING 


295 


perience. On the basis of previously acquired knowledge, he 
infers that certain possible causes and effects may be in¬ 
volved. These inferences are an important step in the rea¬ 
soning process. They form the basis for proof of an adequate 
and satisfactory solution. 

4. The tentative acceptance of one solution. Any solution 
must be a tentative one until it has been tested with reference 
to the facts of the situation. In order to proceed after all 
possible solutions have been inferred, one which seems most 
reasonable or likely is selected and tested. This procedure is 
the one followed by a doctor diagnosing and prescribing for an 
illness of uncertain origin. When a patient shows symptoms 
that are common to several maladies, he is treated for that 
disease which seems to be the causal factor commonly asso¬ 
ciated with a majority of the symptoms. This is a tentative 
diagnosis and treatment, and is maintained only if the subse¬ 
quent history of the cases warrants it. 

5. The final acceptance or rejection of the solution on the 
basis of proof. A solution is accepted or rejected as it meets 
the demands inherent in the problem. If the solution satisfies 
the various facts, enables the individual to make a satisfactory 
adjustment, or forms an adequate basis for prediction and con¬ 
trol of similar maladjustments in the future, it may be ac¬ 
cepted. If it does not fulfil these requirements, it is rejected 
and another solution is tentatively accepted and tested. 

This constitutes the ideal or logical procedure in reasoning, 
but a person does not always follow it. Sometimes the prob¬ 
lem and the solution may occur simultaneously. For example a 
sudden noise may immediately suggest its source — a punctured 
tire or perhaps an approaching thunderstorm. At other times, 
the problem and the solution may be widely separated, neces¬ 
sitating every step in the process before satisfaction is gained. 
For instance, a scientist raises the problem as to the birthplace 
of the human race. Years of research are necessary before 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


296 

even the possible solutions are available for testing, and then 
the assembling of data still remains as a major task before the 
proof of any hypothesis can be established. Other variations 
may occur. A possible solution may be tentatively accepted 
and data gathered which appear to be useful as proof; then 
a reexamination of the problem itself may necessitate the 
abandonment of the entire process as previously carried on. 
Again, the problem itself may become vastly enlarged as re¬ 
search progresses or, on the other hand, it may be simplified 
so that it will be possible to predict the result without de¬ 
termining the intermediate factors. 

In ordinary circumstances one rarely follows the formal steps 
which Dewey suggests. The scientist in his laboratory, who 
knows the difficulties involved in proving any problem, may 
feel the urgency of controlling his variables by rigid adher¬ 
ence to as formal a method as possible. But the average per¬ 
son, more often than not, jumps at conclusions. 

Suppose you went into your room, which you had carefully 
straightened in the morning, and found it very much upset. 
Immediately you would say, “ Some one has been here.” That 
would be self-evident. The problem would be to determine 
why some one had been in your room. Was it a practical joke? 
Was robbery the motive? These possibilities you would test 
by inspection, searching for valuables you had left in the room, 
seeking some definite cue which would establish one possible 
solution as the most adequate one. Suppose your watch was 
missing; also your formal clothes. Perhaps some money as 
well. This would be enough proof for you. You would con¬ 
clude, and probably believe, that a robber had been there. 

Your judgments concerning the condition of the room would 
be based on the sensory data at hand. Your inference that 
some one had been there would be based on the fact that, as a 
rule, things cannot move themselves. This inference involves 
a third factor which, although not present, is essential to the 


THINKING 


297 


problem. The inferences regarding motive were tested by ex¬ 
amination of the situation. One inference seemed the most 
possible solution. It was tested by further investigation and 
accepted as true. 

Methods for Securing Solutions. In the past, two meth¬ 
ods have been employed in securing solutions to problems in 
which implicit reactions were involved. These processes are 
called induction and deduction. Induction may be defined as 
a method by means of which we proceed from particular facts 
to general principles or laws. Deduction is the method by 
means of which we proceed from general principles to specific 
and particular facts. According to the definitions, there seems 
to be a marked divergence in the procedure of these methods, 
but such is not the case. In almost any reasoning process both 
of them are involved. A classic example of deduction is the 
following syllogism: 

All men are mortal 
Socrates is a man 
Therefore Socrates is mortal 

An illustration of inductive reasoning is furnished by the way 
in which a fountain-pen manufacturer determined the price and 
character of his product. He sent workers into stores and 
colleges to ask people what sort of fountain pen they wanted. 
The price these persons were most willing to pay, and the size 
and the color of the barrel they preferred were items especially 
significant for his purposes. After these facts had been gath¬ 
ered, the manufacturer made a generalization as to what would 
be a popular fountain pen. 

Modern scientific procedure claims the inductive method 
as essential to its development. Huxley defined the true scien¬ 
tist as one who scrutinized all the facts and followed where 
those facts led. The use of experimental techniques has fos¬ 
tered the inductive method. The solution of problems on the 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


298 

basis of an interpretation of related facts which have been 
secured under controlled conditions is the very essence of scien¬ 
tific method. 

It would be a mistake, however, to consider that the de¬ 
ductive method plays no part in modern science. The ex¬ 
perimenter has a problem before he begins his research. In 
order to begin an experiment he must make inferences which 
are to be tested. These inferences may be deductions from 
the general nature of the problem itself. It must also be re¬ 
membered that the distinction between induction and deduc¬ 
tion turns on the use we make of the suggestion or hypothesis. 
Given a suggestion, we may proceed to collect evidence that 
can be explained by means of the suggestion, or we may predict 
on the basis of the suggestion what facts we shall find. 

Advantages of Reasoning. Let us summarize the most 
significant advantages which accrue from reasoning. 

1. Reasoning involves an economy of energy and time. 
Testing alternatives mentally is much quicker and, in general, 
quite as satisfactory as testing them by overt behavior. The 
ability to imagine results from this or that move often saves 
time and energy. 

Before introducing a costly change in policy, the good ad¬ 
ministrator can test the merits of the change by reasoning. 
The architectural engineer may determine by reasoning and 
imagination the effect of certain structural changes and bring 
about a saving of money and time in building. 

2. Reasoning facilitates survival. An animal placed in a 
problematical situation finds a solution by overt trial and error. 
A man tests possibilities by implicit trial and error. The ani¬ 
mal risks its life; the man reduces the possibilities of unfortu¬ 
nate consequences by selecting special tentative reactions, after 
he has tested many alternatives implicitly. Logical reasoning 
coupled with a disciplined imagination has saved man in many 
difficult situations. 


THINKING 


299 


3. Reasoning brings to light new relationships which may 
have further value. Reasoning is essentially a creative act. 
Its successful pursuit results in a conclusion which involves an 
element of novelty and newness. The extent of the novelty 
varies, depending largely upon the nature of the problem. 
By means of controlled imagination and active reasoning pow¬ 
ers, astronomers have swung their telescopes to a certain area 
of the heavens and predicted that a new planet or a new star 
should be visible at a certain time. And so a new planet or 
star is discovered. By the same procedure Newton worked out 
the law governing the relationships existing between falling 
bodies. In a less spectacular, but none the less effective, man¬ 
ner every one defines his problems, creates new mental hori¬ 
zons for himself, and becomes more effective in making his 
adjustments to life. 

Professor Carr mentions the following advantages of rea¬ 
soning over trial-and-error learning: (1) Reasoning can be ap¬ 
plied to a much wider range of problems. In the trial-and- 
error method, the material must be present. In reasoning, the 
materials used need not be present. A contractor in Chicago 
may direct the construction of a building in Seattle or Peking. 
(2) Reasoning can best be used — in fact it is about the only 
method which can be used — in solving abstract problems. 
Reasoning is the method used for solving problems in history, 
mathematics, ethics, and religion. (3) Reasoning can solve 
many types of problems effectively because it can utilize the 
experiences of others. 

Selected References 

Carr, H. A., Psychology, Chapters VIII and IX. Longmans, 1925. 
Dashiell, J. F., Fundamentals of Objective Psychology, Chapter 
XVII. Houghton Mifflin, ig28. 

Dewey, John, How We Think, Revised Edition. Heath, 1933. 
Gault, R. H., and Howard, D. T., Outlines of General Psychology, 
Chapters IX and X. Longmans, 1925. 


CHAPTER X 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 

XLVI. Emotional Behavior a Form of Adjustment 

While every reaction has an emotional aspect, emotions 
arise especially when one is forced to encounter new or diffi¬ 
cult circumstances. The autonomic nervous system is, at 
first, primarily involved in emotional behavior. Its func¬ 
tion is to stimulate the subject to make skeletal reactions 
which are adequate for the situation. When a satisfactory 
response has been made, the emotional tension subsides. In 
early infancy emotions are stimulated by the intensity of 
stimuli, but as a result of experiences specific stimuli arouse 
emotional reactions because of the meanings they acquire. 

Nature of Emotional Behavior. Emotional behavior may 
be observed by anyone who looks at the conduct of man or ani¬ 
mal. Two dogs snarl at each other or fight over a bone and 
we say that they are angry. If one gets the worst of it, he will 
run with his tail between his legs and we judge him to be 
afraid. A boy who has received a pair of ice-skates for Christ¬ 
mas will jump and shout, convincing us that he is happy. An¬ 
other boy whose dog has been killed by an auto will sob in his 
expression of grief. A mother will suffer all sorts of privation 
for the boy she loves. The jealous man will kill the rival he 
hates. Joy and sorrow, love and hate, fear and anger, are con¬ 
ditions to which we need no introduction. We call them 
emotions. 

Complexity of Emotional Behavior. Some emotions are 
enjoyable and we attempt to cultivate them; others cause us 
suffering and we shun them. Some we consider lofty and highly 


300 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


301 


moral; others we abhor. Some are plainly apparent to others, 
and some we attempt to keep to ourselves, using all sorts of 
devices to deceive our friends. Some are childish in their 
crudity while others are very intricately interwoven into our 
most elaborate intellectual processes. In short, emotions per¬ 
vade every phase of our living and color all our acts. 

This wide range of emotional behavior, the fact that it per¬ 
meates all our behavior, leads to the conclusion that emotions 
are but an aspect of behavior in general. Emotions are not 
separate entities which can be isolated and studied. Certain 
characteristics of conduct we can call the emotional character¬ 
istics. These are highly important phases of conduct, as we 
shall presently discover, but we cannot isolate emotions from 
conduct in general except in our thinking. 

Characteristics of Emotional Conduct. What is there 
about emotional conduct which marks it off from other be¬ 
havior? Viewed from the aspect of the emotion-producing 
stimulus we can say, at least in primitive and infantile emotions, 
that something unusual is happening to the person who is ex¬ 
periencing an emotion. As described by the subject, the emo¬ 
tional situation is one in which he is disturbed. From the view¬ 
point of an outside observer the victim of emotional conduct is 
excessively active or is doing things which he would not ordi¬ 
narily be doing. Emotional conduct has its inception, there¬ 
fore, in emergency situations which cause the subject to ex¬ 
perience disturbed feelings, and which make him do rash or 
unusual acts. 

Emotion-provoking Stimuli. There are no specific situa¬ 
tions or stimuli which, in and of themselves, can be designated 
as emotion-provoking. One situation may provide an emotional 
stimulation for one individual and not for another. The same 
situation may stimulate a person to emotional behavior at one 
time and not at another. All we can say is that a situation is 
emotion-provoking when and because it leads to emotional be- 


302 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


havior in a person at a certain time. It can be evaluated as 
emotional only in terms of the effect it produces. 

Other things being equal, we tend to be aroused to more 
violent activity by an intense sensory experience than by a 
mild one. A sound, for example, of low frequency and mild 
intensity may produce very little disturbance in us, may even 
tend to make us relax. Increase the intensity or the pitch and 
we tend to be aroused to more violent activity. 

The physical intensity of a stimulus being the same, its 
effect upon an individual’s emotional behavior may increase 
with the addition of greater meaning to the stimulus. For in¬ 
stance, a light stimulus may cause the pupil to contract and 
produce no further response. The same amount of light com¬ 
ing from a picture which is highly meaningful to the subject 
may cause a violent reaction. 

Generalizing from these facts, we may say that if the subject 
is not stimulated violently enough to necessitate a response, or 
if he has an adequate response which he makes promptly upon 
receiving the stimulus, his emotional behavior is at a minimum. 
If the stimulus is intense, or if he has no ready and adequate 
response to make, he is aroused to greater emotional excitement. 

In other words, emotional behavior is aroused when the 
subject needs to meet an emergency, to handle an insistent 
demand, to do something different in order to combat a novel 
experience, or to overcome a predicament. 

Emotional activity should not be confused, at this point, 
with complexity of activity. One can make a reflex reaction 
or solve an intricate mathematical equation with relatively little 
emotion if in each case his procedures are well defined. If the 
reflex is inadequate he becomes emotional, or if he encounters 
a snag in his elaborate computations he may become emotional. 
In either case the emotion is a response to the emergency, the 
unusual obstacle, and not to the complexity of the situation. 
One may be more likely to encounter an obstacle in a complex 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


303 


situation, to be sure, but the one trained in a complex field does 
his work with little emotional excitement — until something 
goes wrong. 

How the Body Adjusts to Emotional Situations. Let us 
compare the reactions that our bodies make to an emotional 
situation with our bodily behavior in a non-emotional one. 
Take the salute which a well-trained soldier makes when he 
passes an officer. His hand goes up to his cap in almost auto¬ 
matic fashion. The sight of the officer stimulates the reaction 
and it is all over in a few moments. Little emotion accom¬ 
panies it. The nerve currents from the eye pass through cer¬ 
tain nervous centers in the brain and spinal cord and the re¬ 
sponse is made. 

Suppose, instead of an officer, the soldier meets a bandit. 
To the command, “ Put ’em up,” he raises his hands, but such 
a response does not adequately meet the whole situation and 
because he does not have a fixed pattern of response for ban¬ 
dits he becomes emotional. What happens in his nervous sys¬ 
tem in such a case? 

Some of the incoming nerve energy, not finding a ready outlet 
in a skeletal movement, is drained off into the autonomic nerv¬ 
ous system. This part of the nervous system, as was explained 
in Section X (pp. 64-66), controls the activity of the smooth 
muscles of the body and some of the glands, particularly the 
endocrine, or ductless, glands. 

A fear stimulus, such as we have in our illustration, would 
cause some nervous energy to pass into the thoracic segment 
of the autonomic nervous system. The ganglia of the thoracic 
segment connect directly with a great many organs of the body 
and their activity would be somewhat as follows (see Figure 14): 
the pupils would dilate; the salivary glands would be inhibited 
and the mouth become dry; the sweat glands would secrete 
more profusely; the smooth muscles around the hair would 
contract and cause the hair to stand erect or would produce 


3©4 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


“ goose pimples ”; the smooth muscles of the throat would 
contract and might cause speechlessness or a cry; the heart 
would beat faster; the breathing would increase in rapidity; 
the action of the stomach and intestines would be checked; and 
the adrenal and thyroid glands would increase in activity. The 
enumeration of these reactions gives a composite picture of 
great excitement. 

Furthermore, this excitement is cumulative. The soldier 
raised his hands quickly because skeletal movements take little 
time. Smooth muscles, on the other hand, react more slowly, 
as has been explained on page 48 and illustrated graphically in 
Figure 4. Consequently, it takes some time for the emotional 
excitement to gain momentum, and while the soldier stands with 
his hands in the air his emotional tensions are increasing. This 
slow growth of emotional tension is accentuated by the activ¬ 
ity of the thyroid and adrenal glands. These glands secrete 
hormones which, when discharged into the blood stream, stimu¬ 
late muscular activity. Since such secretion and hormone 
stimulation take considerable time, their effect is much more 
prolonged than the original external stimulation which initiated 
their action. 

The slowness of smooth muscle activity and the latent time 
required to feel the full effects of hormone activity explain the 
long after-effects of emotional excitement. As an illustration 
of this prolonged effect, let us imagine a person driving along 
a highway when he sees two cars bearing down upon him — 
one on his side of the road driven by a speed demon who is 
trying to pass the other car. He manages to swerve to one side, 
escapes the smash which seemed inevitable, and finds himself, 
right side up, in the ditch beside the road with no harm done. 
He has reacted almost automatically because of the habitual 
nature of his driving reactions. After he has done the right 
thing, after the danger is all over, he now finds himself getting 
tremendously emotional. Why should he do so when he has 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


305 


no need for his emotions? He does so because the stimulus of 
the oncoming cars was so violent that his skeletal activity did 
not take care of all the nervous energy it generated. Part of 
it went to the autonomic nervous system and affected his smooth 
muscles and glands in the way we have just described, but it 
took so long for these secondary things to happen that his real 
fear came after the crisis had passed. 

It also happens that the cranial segment of the autonomic 
nervous system works in antagonism to the thoracic segment. 
Therefore, the way for him to overcome the emotional tension 
resulting from the near-accident is to get his cranial segment 
into intense operation so as to inhibit the excitement produced 
by the activity of the thoracic segment. He reasons about the 
whole thing, reviews what he did, and as he thinks the whole 
thing through he finds the emotional tension changing to re¬ 
laxation. Humor, being somewhat of a cranial segment activ¬ 
ity, is a good procedure to adopt to inhibit fear. If he can see 
the funny side of the episode, and genuinely laugh at the way 
he grabbed the wheel and the expletives he used, he will suc¬ 
cessfully counteract the fear. 

In brief, the function of the autonomic nervous system is to 
guide in the increase in energy which becomes necessary when 
an individual is faced with a dilemma. Through the tension 
of the smooth muscles and the stimulating influence of the 
ductless glands, the subject of an emotion is forced into activ¬ 
ity which becomes increasingly violent and increasingly diverse 
until he makes a response which more or less successfully meets 
the dilemma. When he does the right thing the stimulating 
circumstances are removed, the ductless glands return to their 
normal secretion rate, and the smooth muscles gradually relax. 

The emotion dissipates itself because the person has done 
something about the situation which caused the excitement. If 
the response had been a wrong one the stimulating conditions 
would have remained or would have increased in intensity and 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


306 

the emotional tensions would have likewise increased. The 
only way to change an emotional situation into a non-emotional 
one is to deal with the conditions which caused the excite¬ 
ment. 

Emotions of Infants. An obvious difficulty confronts us 
when we attempt to study the emotions of infants. They can¬ 
not tell us the nature of the emotions they experience, and the 
observer is left to infer from the nature of the stimulating situa¬ 
tion and from the child’s resultant behavior the kind or degree 
of emotion which the child experiences. The danger which 
results from this situation is that we may tend to read into the 
child an interpretation which is totally unwarranted. An adult 
has very definite forms of behavior which are closely incorpo¬ 
rated in various emotional situations. They are the result of 
learning of a most prolonged and elaborate sort. To attribute 
such specific meanings to a child’s behavior is certainly giv¬ 
ing it an erroneous significance. The child’s emotions are but 
a vague restlessness, a stimulation to do something, and the 
resultant behavior is nothing more than random activity which 
may or may not result in a satisfactory adjustment. 

“ The inferences that have been drawn about a child’s emo¬ 
tions are often extremely absurd. Kant, never having observed 
either children or animals just born, is supposed to have said, 
‘ The outcry that is heard from a child scarcely born has not 
the tone of lamentation but aroused wrath.’ Dr. William A. 
White quotes Adler as saying: ‘ The infant’s birth cry is an 
expression of its overwhelming sense of inferiority on thus sud¬ 
denly being confronted by reality, without ever having had 
to deal with its problems.’ We have seen that a child must 
undergo some violent activity in learning to take breath into 
his lungs. If he does not become aroused enough to accom¬ 
plish this adjustment it is customary for the physician to jostle 
him, smack him, or even plunge him into hot or cold water 
to stimulate him. And yet this cry has been interpreted by 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


307 


learned men as lamentation, wrath, or a feeling of inferiority! 
Such errors should surely teach us caution.” 1 

The result of such gratuitous interpretation of an infant’s 
behavior in terms of adult meanings led to elaborate classifica¬ 
tions of inborn emotions which included such emotions as fear, 
anger, sorrow, disgust, wonder, love, hate, dejection, and ela¬ 
tion. The recent study of infant behavior has overthrown such 
classifications. 

Watson was the pioneer in discarding old elaborate classifica¬ 
tions of emotions. He thought he could distinguish but three 
emotions in young children — namely, fear, rage, and love. By 
making a loud sound, dropping the child, or jerking away the 
pillow on which the child was lying Watson thought he aroused 
fear. By hampering the child’s movements, he aroused anger. 
By stroking the child or by rocking and fondling him, he 
aroused love. 

Sherman has performed some experiments which indicate 
that even Watson’s classification is too elaborate. Sherman’s 
results are in agreement with what has been learned from the 
anatomy of the autonomic nervous system and with the ex¬ 
perimental work done on animals. It is quite likely that we 
have only two inherent types of emotional reaction: tension 
and relaxation. 

Sherman produced general bodily activity and crying by 
means of a number of stimuli: hunger, pin'pricks, hampering 
of movements, loud sounds, and dropping through space. Hav¬ 
ing produced this excited behavior, he permitted judges to 
decide what emotion was present. He found the greatest con¬ 
fusion in the judgments. In other words, the classifications 
with which we are familiar are the result of our seeing the 
stimulus applied and interpreting the emotion in terms of the 
stimulus. 

Any mother with a crying baby knows the difficulty of de- 
1 Morgan, John J. B., Child Psychology, p. 57. Farrar & Rinehart, 
1934 - 


3°8 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


termining the nature of the stimulus which has caused the 
crying. It is not easy to decide whether the child has a pain 
in his stomach, whether he is being pricked by a pin, whether 
some sound has frightened him, or what not. In short, the 
emotional patterns present in a newborn child are very vague 
and undifferentiated. Specific emotional reactions must be 
learned. We can discover but two types in the infant: tension 
and relaxation. 


XL VII. Emotional Learning 

Certain types of stimuli are more effective than others in 
producing emotional behavior. Other stimuli, naturally in¬ 
effective, may become effective through learning. When this 
occurs in the adult the emotional behavior is very intricate. 

Emotional Rhythms. Since the vegetative processes of the 
body are in continual change, the relative tension of the various 
parts of the smooth musculature is also continually changing. 
Furthermore, we are continually receiving stimuli from the 
external world which influence these tensions. Some of these 
changes are beyond our control and must inevitably take 
place; others are subject to definite modification. 

There is evidence that definite rhythms take place in certain 
visceral tensions which are somewhat independent of external 
conditions. Probably these depend upon chemical rhythms 
in the body. For example, hunger increases tensions which 
the individual usually tries to relieve by the ingestion of food. 
If, however, he is unable to procure food, in time the hunger 
will abate; then increase and abate in a sort of cycle. If this 
cyclic reaction is permitted to continue without the partaking 
of food, the hunger tensions will after a time cease, and, even 
though the person is starving, he will not feel the pangs of 
hunger. 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


309 


This principle has a direct application to more complex 
forms of emotional life. If a person is made angry, his anger 
will subside somewhat if he is given enough time, even though 
the stimulus to anger remains. A person in deep sorrow 
eventually ceases to feel the tensions of sorrow. Fear will 
eventually die down. 

To be sure, the period of relaxation in any of these cases 
may not be of long duration if the stimulus to the emotional 
tension remains. There will likely be a cycle of reactions, but 
eventually the reactions will become less intense. Conse¬ 
quently, if you have to deal with a person who has a violent 
emotional reaction, the best thing to do is to allow him time 
enough to relax from the tension. Since, as we have pointed 
out, the contraction of the smooth muscles is slow in its action 
and is accentuated by glandular secretions which accompany 
it, one cannot expect the relaxation to come quickly. The 
ordinary tendency to talk and sympathize is often not a means 
of helping relaxation but rather a method of prolonging the 
emotional stimuli and accentuating the tension. The best com¬ 
forter in trouble is not the one who loudly weeps with you, or 
tells you how unfortunate you have been, or points out how 
much worse your trouble might have been. The understand¬ 
ing comrade merely sits with you, understanding that your 
emotion must run its course, and helps you to relax by being 
relaxed and calm himself. 

The cyclic character of emotional tensions often leads to a 
change from one type of emotional reaction to its opposite. 
The greatest relaxation comes after extreme tension. The per¬ 
son suffering from grief who will not permit himself to cry or 
express his emotion is not only cutting off the extreme of ten¬ 
sion, but he is also preventing himself from completely re¬ 
laxing. This explains why some persons enjoy a good cry. 
The crying is merely an expression of an extreme of tension 
which has been followed by a most welcome relaxation. The 


3 io GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

person who goes to emotional extremes, the unstable type of 
individual who is always laughing or crying, is one who has 
come to gain an unwholesome amount of pleasure from his 
emotional cycles. 

Characteristics of Unlearned Emotional Responses. In 

order to understand how to train emotional reactions, it is es¬ 
sential to know some of the characteristics of unlearned emo¬ 
tional behavior. 

i. Emotional behavior is reflexive . Experimental work has 
shown very clearly that emotional behavior is reflexive in its 
nature. Removal of the cortex of an animal results in a sort of 
sham rage which manifests itself as follows: 

vigorous lashing of the tail; arching of the trunk, and thrust¬ 
ing and jerking of the limbs in the thongs which fasten them to the 
animal board, combined with a display of claws in the forefeet and 
clawing motions, often persistent; snarling; rapid head movements 
from side to side with attempts to bite; and extremely rapid, pant¬ 
ing respiration. These activities occur, without special stimulation 
in ‘ fits ’ or periods, lasting from a few seconds to several minutes. 
During the intermediate quiet stages a ‘ fit * could be evoked by 
slight handling of the animal, touching the paws or jarring the table. 
Besides these changes which involved skeletal muscle there were 
typical and more permanent effects produced by the sympathetic 
impulses: erection of the tail hairs, which recurred again and again 
after they were smoothed down; elevation of the vibrissae; sweat¬ 
ing of the toe pads; dilation of the pupil to a size during activity 
that was threefold the size during a preceding quiet period; micturi¬ 
tion; a high blood pressure; an abundant outpouring of adrenalin; 
and an increase of blood sugar up to five times the normal con¬ 
centration. 1 

This behavior of a decerebrated animal is typical of the emo¬ 
tional spasm one may observe in an infuriated child or animal. 

1 Cannon, Walter B., The Wittenberg Symposium on Feelings and 
Emotions, p. 259. Clark University Press, 1928. 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


3 ii 

If one was stimulated to anger and exerted no control over his 
reactions, he would do the things which this animal did. The 
internal reactions are of the sort to accentuate these processes. 
There is an increase in the secretion of adrenalin, as we have 
previously noted, which incites to increased and general 
activity. 

Cannon, on the basis of these and other experiments, be¬ 
lieves that they serve as a pattern, and he furnishes evidence 
that other emotions are likewise reflexive in nature. It is well 
known that a person in the “ second ” stage of anesthesia may 
manifest emotional reactions, although, after recovery from 
the anesthetic, he has no memory of having done so. The per¬ 
son who laughs or weeps copiously when under the influence 
of laughing gas also illustrates this reflexive nature of emotional 
behavior. 

Even in later life when we have learned to gain control of 
these reflexive emotional reactions, they may persist in their 
primitive forms. For example, Dashiell cites the case of a 
little boy who although very much frightened kept his out¬ 
ward composure. Later the boy explained to his father. I 
was not frightened but my stomach was.” 

2. Emotional reactions are unitary . The skeletal reflexes 
are very specific in nature. Light shining in the eye will cause 
the pupil to contract. A tap on the patellar tendon will cause 
the knee jerk. The reason for these responses is found in the 
specific nature of the neural reflex connections in the cerebro¬ 
spinal system. 

The autonomic nervous system, on the other hand, has a 
very definite central station which sends out motor fibers to 
the whole range of smooth muscles. The great number of 
organs involved in the emotional excitement of the decerebrated 
animal just described are all under the control of the same 
center. 

3. Emotional learning is more skeletal than visceral. We 


312 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


have seen that an emotional stimulus causes certain activities 
in the viscera and at the same time a number of reactions of 
the skeletal system. These skeletal reactions often provide 
a means of readjustment whereby the individual is able 
to rid himself of the emotional stimuli. Hunger may lead to 
violent visceral reactions, but one stops hunger by getting 
something to eat. When a dog sees a cat, he may have 
violent visceral disturbances; but, at the same time, he 
gets rid of the cat either by fighting her or running away 
from her. In other words, the place of the visceral dis¬ 
turbances in life is to make the individual do something to 
rid himself of the annoying stimuli. He may not know 
what to do, but he will do something, the violence of his 
reactions being related to the intensity of the emotional 
disturbance. 

What happens when a person learns emotionally? A child 
pricked by a pin will go through the violent reactions of the 
decerebrated animal. The adult pricked by a pin will remove 
it. He may suffer very little emotional reaction. What is the 
difference? As we have previously stated, the incoming nerve 
impulse from the pin may branch into various pathways. Part 
goes through the autonomic nervous system and causes the 
visceral reactions. Part goes to various parts of the skeletal 
system and makes the child act. If, on his first movement, 
the pin is removed, there is no further response. If the pin is 
not removed, more energy goes to the autonomic system, and 
the child is incited to renewed energy. Eventually in his ac¬ 
tivity, he does something to remove the pin. This experience 
need not be repeated very often before the child comes to have 
little emotion and very little excitement of his motor organism. 
For these he substitutes a simple act of removing the pin when 
he feels it. 

In other words, a large part of the learning of emotional 
control is learning to make specific reactions to situations 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


313 

which otherwise would have a violent effect on the autonomic 
system and the smooth musculature. 

Emotional control is not learning to endure a stimulus which 
is distasteful or obnoxious, but learning to do something 
specific about it. The learner comes to respond to stimuli, not 
by more violent visceral disturbances, but by more specific 
skeletal acts. He ceases to cry when he feels the pin; he re¬ 
moves it. The basis of emotional learning is the control of 
the environment, not the control of our emotional expressions. 

Methods of Emotional Learning. The methods whereby 
we develop emotionally are little different from those of ordi¬ 
nary learning, which we have already discussed. They may be 
classified into four groups: negative adaptation, fixation of 
random responses, substitute stimulus, and substitute response. 

1. Negative adaptation. Thunder may frighten me. I may 
go through all the physiological reactions of fear, but none of 
them does much good because I still hear the thunder. If the 
thunder continues long enough, I may finally become accus¬ 
tomed to it and no longer respond emotionally. 

In situations where the stimulus really has little significance 
for me, and where there is nothing that can be .done to avoid 
it, negative adaptation is an effective type of response. I do 
the only thing I can do — namely, nothing. Of course I might 
move to Seattle, where there are no thunderstorms. I might 
run to my mother and cling to her. Each of these reactions 
illustrates a substitute response, to be discussed later. They 
are mentioned here to indicate that the method of negative 
adaptation may not be applied exclusively to any particular 
situation. 

Because negative adaptation is effective in some instances, its 
merit has been overemphasized by some persons. It has led 
to the development of the doctrine that the way to train the 
emotions is to endure to the point where the organism becomes 
impervious to stimuli of an emotional nature. Experiments in 


314 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


the field of abnormal psychology seem to indicate that this 
method has been stressed too much. It is really better to 
permit negative adaptation to operate as a last resort, when 
other methods of adjustment have failed. 

2. Fixation of random responses. We have seen that the 
primitive form of emotional reaction involves a great number 
of movements that have little logical relation to the situation 
at hand. From this welter of activity some act may serve to 
relieve the situation and thereafter be given preference. This 
is a very useful form of adjustment and fortunate is the in¬ 
dividual who, through chance or wise education, learns the 
most efficient type of response and fixes on it. 

In some instances useless types of random movement be¬ 
come fixed. If you watch persons when they are under some 
tension, you may observe many of these acts. One man will 
make queer grimaces, another will rub his hands, another will 
bite his lips, another will twist his clothing, and so on in end¬ 
less variety. If you are observant, you can get from these re¬ 
actions many clues as to the degree of tension in others. One 
man confessed that he could always beat a friend of his at 
poker because whenever his friend had a good hand, his Adam’s 
apple moved up and down. 

Sometimes these reactions take more pronounced form. A 
girl who was confronted with a particularly difficult task was 
so frightened that she was nauseated. Thereafter she was al¬ 
ways nauseated when she had to face any hard task. Even 
when she had reached the age of thirty-five, this woman was 
severely nauseated just before she was to appear on the plat¬ 
form in a musical performance. 

We have seen how essential it is in motor learning to elimi¬ 
nate useless movements, even though they are part of our ran¬ 
dom activity at the beginning of learning. We may press our 
foot on the floor with great vigor or make a wry face every time 
we strike a key when we are beginning to operate a typewriter, 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 315 

but we soon get rid of such a useless act. It is just as silly to 
persist in some random response in an emotional situation. 
Random activity is valuable in that it gives us a variety of re¬ 
sponses from which to choose the best, but it becomes a handi¬ 
cap when we persist in some silly act. 

In emotional life we get rid of such random, useless acts by 
positive means. We place all the emphasis upon some response 
which is more useful. When a person finds himself the victim 
of some foolish emotional behavior, he needs to get some posi¬ 
tive way of dealing with the situation instead of telling himself 
he must not let his emotions control him. 

3. Substitute stimulus. Very few things produce emotional 
responses in infants. Adults respond emotionally to thou¬ 
sands of things. Why do so many things produce such re¬ 
sponses in adults? 

We have said that Watson found that a child will respond 
to loud sounds, to sudden movement through space, to re¬ 
straint, to gentle stroking, or to pain. The range is indeed 
limited. No child is innately afraid of lights, of animals, of the 
dark, or of persons. He loves comfort, but he has to learn to 
love his mother or nurse. He learns to respond to all these 
things through the mechanism of conditioned reacting—by 
the method of substitute stimulus. 

Watson demonstrated the function of the conditioned reflex 
in emotional life in this way: He permitted a child to stroke a 
rabbit. The child showed no emotional reaction of fear to¬ 
ward the rabbit. When a loud sound was produced in the 
vicinity of the child’s ear, he did respond in a way which 
Watson called fear. When the loud sound was made at the 
same time that the child put out his hand to stroke the rabbit, 
the child related the two and soon became afraid of the rab¬ 
bit; that is, he cried whenever he saw the rabbit. He had 
learned to be afraid of it. 

After he had made the child afraid of the rabbit, Watson 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


316 

then set about to make him overcome the fear. He found 
that the most effective way was to make the rabbit a part of a 
situation which was emotionally desirable. When the child 
was eating a particularly pleasant food, the rabbit was per¬ 
mitted to come into a distant corner of the room. After a 
number of such experiences, in which the rabbit was not con¬ 
nected with anything unpleasant, the child endured the rabbit, 
and finally learned to respond to him as part of the total 
pleasant situation. Eventually he learned to like the rabbit. 
In short, the child used the method of substitute stimulus to 
overcome a fear which had been established by the same 
method. 

There is a danger in this method. It is conceivable that 
the dislike and fear of the rabbit could have been so strong 
that, instead of the desire for the food making the child like 
the rabbit, the fear of the rabbit might have carried over to 
make the child fear or dislike the food. This would surely 
have happened if the rabbit had been introduced too quickly. 
In such a manner we can be made to fear things far removed 
from any original fear response. 

There exists a group of fear reactions, commonly known as 
phobias, which have quite as specific stimuli as the simpler 
emotional reactions, but which do not yield to detachment by 
the methods just described. Individuals suffering from phobias 
are unable to recall the experiences which originally caused the 
fear. For this reason, the phobia continues to affect them. 

Phobias are more common than one would suppose. Fear of 
water, of high places, and many similar phobias are often very 
embarrassing and painful to the person possessing them. 

Professor Prince reports an interesting example of a phobia, 
together with the methods employed to eliminate it. 1 A young 
woman suffered from a fear of church bells. She had forgot¬ 
ten how the fear began but, through the use of a special 

1 Bagby, English, The Psychology of Personality, p. 51. Holt, 1928. 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


3i7 


technique, it was discovered that the condition dated from 
the death of her mother, and that her childhood reaction to the 
death had been important in the genesis of the phobia. The 
woman had felt that she was responsible for the serious turn 
of her mother’s illness because she believed that she had not 
been giving her mother the proper care. While the woman was 
in this state of agonized distress, the bells of a neighboring 
church were continually ringing, and her fear became attached 
to them. All of the episode was recalled by the young woman, 
but still detachment was not effected. The belief that she 
was responsible for her mother’s death was no more acceptable 
to the woman as an adult than it had been to her as a child. 
The thought could not be assimilated; that is, it remained a 
source of fear. Prince found it necessary to give his patient 
reassurance so that she might react to her memory without 
fear. He dissipated her thoughts of self-reproach by convinc¬ 
ing her that the death of her mother had been due to an un¬ 
controllable sequence of causes, and that her own actions had 
not only been above reproach but were actually remarkably 
fine. It was not until the woman was brought to this belief 
that she was able to overcome her phobia. 

4. Substitute response. We are fascinated when some per¬ 
son tells of being afraid of an object which should not ordi¬ 
narily produce fear. But these conditioned fear-stimuli are 
only a small part of the emotional pattern. There are other 
stimuli, emotional in character, which produce an emotional 
reaction. The treatment in these cases does not consist of 
substituting stimuli of another sort, but of changing the re¬ 
sponse. If my best friend dies, I am justified in mourning. 
Shall I try to make the death of my friend part of a pleasant 
situation until I learn to laugh like an idiot every time I think 
of it? You have probably seen persons attempting to adjust 
to an inevitable misfortune in some such manner. 

We have already indicated that justifiable emotional situa- 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


3i8 

tions may be met by negative adaptation, but that this should 
be used as a last resort. We have also indicated that fixation 
of random reactions is likely to lead to silly responses. Sub¬ 
stituting some pleasant stimulus may be effective, but the best 
plan is to learn to get some substitute outlet — some substitute 
response. 

The end of emotional behavior is not visceral tensions or 
extreme skeletal activity. These come when it is essential that 
we do something radically different from what we have been 
doing. They incite us to do something different. The activity 
that results from them should lead to a better adjustment to 
our environment. 

Certain kinds of substitute emotional responses are very 
little improvement; they may be merely the substitution of one 
visceral tension for another. These responses of questionable 
value come usually as a substitute for certain visceral tensions 
which we have been taught are morally undesirable. The child. 
is taught, for example, that he should inhibit sexual tensions. 
Consequently, we see adolescent boys and girls making a vast 
number of substitute reactions. They giggle, blush, and chat¬ 
ter. Some have queer lumps in their throats. One girl became 
nauseated every time a young man called her on the telephone 
to ask for a “ date.” A substitute type of response which 
modern society approves and which a large number of young 
people find relatively successful is the development of roman¬ 
ticism. The sexual tensions find an outlet in idealistic re¬ 
sponses to an ideal lover, the imagining of a permanent and 
ideal attachment, and the development of a home. 

Tensions tend to last until the person does something. A 
person who has lost a loved one will mourn until he decides 
that the departed one would prefer that he do something 
worthy, instead of pining. When the person undertakes some 
activity, the tension ceases. He has substituted an overt act 
for a smooth-muscle tension. 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


3i9 


When a person is awakened in the middle of the night, ter¬ 
rified by some strange noise, the terror will remain if he lies in 
bed and does nothing. If he gets up and investigates, he sub¬ 
stitutes an activity for the fear, and the emotion subsides. 

The principle of emotional learning is to do something, but 
that something must be in the nature of a real adjustment, not 
simply activity. Some persons, with a shortsighted view of the 
situation, have advocated doing anything — yelling, throwing 
dishes or the furniture, exploding in some way to get rid of 
the tension. These persons are right in so far as they suggest 
activity, but they are wrong when they suggest a line of activity 
which produces a greater maladjustment to the environment 
than the one they seek to alleviate. 

XLVIII. Measurement of Emotions 

Objective methods for measuring emotions have given bet¬ 
ter results than attempts at introspection. No one objective 
method is adequate alone to give a true index of the nature 
or degree of emotional behavior, but when several are taken 
together some confidence can be placed in the results. The 
greatest practical adaptation of emotional measurement has 
been in the detection of criminals and liars. 

Various Lines of Endeavor. Laboratory attempts to ar¬ 
rive at a precise estimation of the nature and degree of emo¬ 
tional experience have, in a general way, followed the natural 
division of emotional behavior; that is, they have attempted to 
learn the kinds of stimuli which produce emotional excitement, 
the central processes which take place in emotional experience, 
and the resultant overt behavior. 

Both introspective and objective techniques have been em¬ 
ployed. The introspective technique should be valuable in this 
field, so its exponents argue, for the simple reason that the only 
way to know about an emotion is to know it yourself. We are 
all familiar with the situation of a person who acts as though 


320 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


he were emotional but who asserts that he experiences no emo¬ 
tion. We are, on the other hand, equally familiar with the 
person who protests that he is very much stirred when all his 
conduct belies his words. A great part of the training in social 
decorum is learning to deceive others as to the true nature of 
our emotional life, and this training eventually teaches us to 
deceive ourselves as well as the outsider. It takes very little 
study to convince us that introspective reports of emotional ex¬ 
periences are very unfaithful. 

Again, if an individual attempts to tell us of what he is 
afraid, whom he loves, who angers him, and the like, he is very 
likely to mislead us. It is so easy to substitute one emotional 
stimulus for another that even the subject of the emotion does 
not realize the nature or the extent of the substitution. When 
a girl screams in terror at the sight of a mouse, faints when she 
sees a drop of blood, or declares she hates the boy who delights 
in teasing her, we should be unwise to take her verbal reports 
of her emotions at their face value. 

Objective Techniques. The objective techniques have taken 
two forms. One set of methods has been concerned with rec¬ 
ords of the responses which are closely associated with the ac¬ 
tions of the autonomic nervous system, such as the heart, lungs, 
and smooth muscles of the body. Other methods have been 
directed toward descriptions and measurements of the overt be¬ 
havior of the emotionally aroused person. We shall describe 
the most important of these objective techniques. 

i. Pulse. It has long been known that emotional conditions 
affect the rate of heart beat. Elaborate devices have been de¬ 
veloped to make graphic records in order to correlate these 
changes with changes in emotional excitement. The results 
have not been very satisfactory because heart rate may be 
changed by so many other things than emotional excitement. 
When used in combination with other measures the heart rate 
may be significant. 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


321 


2. Blood pressure. An instrument known as the sphygmo¬ 
manometer may be used to indicate the changes in volume in 
a member of the body, such as a finger or hand. Another type 
of instrument consists of a rubber balloon which is fastened 
around the arm or leg. The amount of pressure necessary to 
effect a stopping of the pulse in the member can be graphically 
recorded and these records show some relationship with emo¬ 
tional excitement. Here, again, other factors than emotional 
changes affect the blood pressure; for that reason, these rec¬ 
ords must be considered in relation to other forms of emotional 
expression. 

3. Respiration. The instrument used to measure respira¬ 
tion is called the pneumograph. It consists of a rubber tube 
distended by a coiled spring which is stretched around the 
lungs — either around the thorax, upper diaphragm, or both — 
in such a manner that every change in the content of the lungs 
is reflected in the contents of the tube. When connected with a 
recording apparatus a graphic representation of the breathing 
is obtained. Such breathing curves have been used in different 
ways to obtain an index upon emotional behavior. In some 
cases the rate has been considered alone, in others the rate in 
relation to depth of breathing, in others the ratio between the 
time taken for inhalation and that taken for exhalation, and 
in still others the relation between thoracic and abdominal 
breathing. 

4. Tonus. The degree of bodily tonus should be a good in¬ 
dicator of emotional excitement. Crude observation shows the 
excited person to be on the alert, ready to spring in any direc¬ 
tion, and in a condition of constant strain. If we had a way 
of measuring both visceral and skeletal tonus perfectly we 
should be nearer to our goal of the measurement of emotions. 
The difficulty that confronts us is largely due to the fact that 
bodily tensions change with great rapidity and shift from one 
part of the body to another. In spite of the technical difficulties 


322 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


involved, progress is being made toward the perfection of de¬ 
vices to record with some accuracy all changes in bodily tonus. 
Such measures should give us much information about emo¬ 
tional changes. 

5. Visceral activity. Experimental work with animals has 
demonstrated conclusively that gastric secretions are dimin¬ 
ished and the peristaltic movements of the stomach and in¬ 
testines are diminished with the increase in emotional excite¬ 
ment. If we could record these activities we should know 
something about the emotional reactions of persons. The first 
crude attempts to obtain such records consisted in having the 
subject swallow a rubber ball which was then inflated suffi¬ 
ciently for it to record the movements of the stomach walls. 

More refined methods have been used in observing directly 
the peristaltic movements. If a person is given a meal with 
barium or bismuth the location of these substances can be seen 
as opaque masses by means of a fluoroscopic screen or the 
x-ray. As the meal is handled by the alimentary tract the ob¬ 
server can see the activities involved. 

6. Oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide output. The 
oxygen consumption and the carbon dioxide output furnish a 
reliable index of the amount of work done by an individual. 
When an emotional situation increases the tension of an in¬ 
dividual or the vigor of his activity these measures will indi¬ 
cate the changes. The objections to them are that they require 
a very elaborate technique and that they respond to every 
minor change in the metabolic rate so that it is hard to deter¬ 
mine which are emotional effects and which the effect of other 
activities. For example, if a person is frightened and raises his 
arm, or even attempts to raise it, the resultant change in oxygen 
consumption caused by the physiological effort to raise the arm 
may far overshadow the change due to the emotional excite¬ 
ment. 

7. Blood sugar. The blood sugar content is indirectly de- 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


323 


pendent upon the secretion of the adrenal glands. If we could 
know at each moment the blood sugar content, would not this 
give an accurate index of adrenal activity and consequently of 
emotional excitement? While such a procedure appears to be 
very promising, it is not very practicable for continuous labo¬ 
ratory work. The computation of the sugar content requires 
an elaborate chemical technique and it would be difficult to 
take blood samples at short enough intervals over a long period 
of time. 

8. Psychogalvanic reflex. The psychogalvanic reflex may 
be obtained as follows: If two electrodes are attached to differ¬ 
ent parts of the body, a galvanometer will record a change in 
electric potential between these two terminals as a result of the 
slightest emotional change in the individual. The subject may 
be startled with a pistol shock, a rat on his arm, the sight of a 
snake, some fetid odor, or the like; or he may be merely asked 
to think of his best girl friend, his mother, or an examination 
he is about to take. In any and all of these situations the 
galvanometer is likely to record changes. 

The difficulty with the psychogalvanic reflex is that it has 
been impossible to interpret the changes. No characteristic 
difference can be observed between the reactions to emotions of 
the most diverse sort. At times a great deflection may occur 
with what seems to be a minor emotion; again, a very minor 
change may be the record when the subject is extremely ex¬ 
cited. We can conclude that the galvanometer records some 
effect of emotion experience but, until more is known about the 
relationship between the emotion and the electric reactions of 
the body, it has limited value. 

9. Free association test. The free association test proceeds 
upon the assumption that when a person is unemotional he can 
express words in uninterrupted sequence. Emotional excite¬ 
ment of any sort is supposed to disturb the subject so that the 
associations will be distorted in some manner. The signs of 


324 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


such disturbance are undue delay in giving words, repeating 
the same word unnecessarily, giving words that have a personal 
significance, giving sequences of words that have no relation, 
failing to respond at all, and accessory signs of emotional dis¬ 
turbance such as blushing, trembling, twitching, and the like. 

Behavior in everyday life which is closely similar to these 
free association indicators may be observed when a person be¬ 
comes speechless with embarrassment, when he chatters in or¬ 
der to cover his confusion, when he blushes, twists his clothing, 
wiggles his feet, scratches his head, or becomes actually in¬ 
coherent. 

Two methods have been used in the laboratory. The con¬ 
tinuous method consists of having the subject begin with any 
word and continue indefinitely to recite any other word, related 
or unrelated, which presents itself to him. The discrete stimu¬ 
lus method consists of giving the subject various words with 
the instructions that he give the first word that suggests itself 
to him. In the latter method it is customary to make accurate 
records of the reaction times. Long reaction times indicate 
emotional tension. 

io. Facial expression. Many persons pride themselves upon 
their ability to read emotions in the facial expressions of others. 
Working on this common assumption several investigators have 
attempted to measure the agreement of different observers in 
interpreting facial expressions. Photographs have been taken 
of persons as they express various emotions, and these photo¬ 
graphs are shown to different persons with the instructions that 
they state the emotion portrayed, or check from a list of emo¬ 
tions the one they think is represented in each photograph. 
Results of such experiments have been rather disappointing. 
Some extreme poses can be judged accurately; as, for example, 
when the tears are running down the face and the person is in 
obvious distress. But where there is any subtlety in the facial 
expression a great divergence of judgment is found. The 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


325 


reason for this discrepancy between common belief and labo¬ 
ratory findings lies, probably, in the fact that in ordinary life 
we judge emotional expression not by any static pose but by 
behavior occupying a period of time. A cross section of such 
behavior can be judged only indifferently. This is in keeping 
with the statement made in the beginning of our discussion of 
emotion that they are forms of behavior and are not static 
entities. Given the whole sequence of activity, we recognize 
the nature of the emotional reaction with some accuracy. A 
cross section of such activities could be a part of many be¬ 
havior patterns; consequently, our judgment is confused. 

The most successful attempts to measure emotional behavior 
have been those which utilize several of the methods which we 
have described in this section. 

Practical Use of Emotional Measurements. Some of the 
oldest attempts to utilize the measurement of emotional be¬ 
havior have been directed toward the detection of criminals and 
liars. The ancients adopted the practice of giving each suspect 
of a crime a mouthful of rice which he was required to chew 
and then to eject it. If the rice was dry the suspect was con¬ 
sidered to be the criminal; if the rice was wet he was thereby 
exonerated. While the primitive peoples who used this device 
did not understand the principle involved, we can see that its 
success depended upon the fact that when emotionally aroused 
the salivary secretion of a suspect would be diminished. 

In recent years, the free association test has been used for 
this same purpose. A list of words is used as stimuli, some of 
which are supposedly of no emotional significance and some of 
which are closely related to the theft or other crime which is 
being investigated. If a subject shows more indications of 
emotional excitement to the significant words than to the in¬ 
different words he is supposed to have been connected with the 
crime in some way. 

Probably the most ambitious attempts to apply emotional 


32 6 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

measurements is the development of the so-called “ lie detector. 
This instrument is nothing more than a polygraph which simul¬ 
taneously records respiration, pulse, and blood pressure. Dur¬ 
ing the continuous recording of these three variables the sub¬ 
ject is questioned. While he is preparing to tell his lie, and 
during the telling, he shows emotional indications. After he has 
told his lie he relaxes and his breathing becomes slower and 
more regular, his pulse becomes slower, and his blood pressure 
falls. Obviously, this machine does not measure the accuracy 
of the statement that the subject makes; it merely indicates 
changes in emotional tension which are usually correlated with 
lying. 


XLIX. Types of Emotional Reactions 

Emotional behavior has always defied classification because 
of complexity. We shall not attempt to classify the emo¬ 
tions, but merely to look at them from three different angles: 
from the personal angle, we have joy and sorrow; from the 
angle of adjustment to difficulties, we have fear and anger; 
and from the angle of our relations to others, we have love 
and hate. 

Joy and Sorrow. From the subjective side, emotional life 
may be classified into the two divisions, joy and sorrow. When 
life’s processes are moving forward in a satisfactory manner, 
we have the subjective feelings of joy; when something comes 
in to disturb them, we have feelings of sorrow. 

Joy is merely the subjective experience one has when both 
tension and relaxation are part of a successful adjustment. 
There is a thrill in exertion, both mental and physical, and 
also a thrill in a well-earned rest. If one is forced to rest 
when there is something he should be doing, he is unhappy. If 
he is forced to be active when fatigued and in need of rest, he 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


327 


is unhappy. One enjoys hunger as well as satiety, but exces¬ 
sive hunger or satiety is unpleasant. 

These subjective phases of emotional life are not the pri¬ 
mary function of emotions. The person who is intent on mak¬ 
ing himself feel good will soon find that he is not accomplishing 
his objective. Joy gives one an urge to continue the type of 
conduct which is making for a successful adjustment, and 
sorrow gives one an urge to change his mode of reaction. A 
person should not ask himself: “ How can I be happy? ” This 
centers his attention on his viscera and not on his adjustments. 
If he is unhappy, he should ask himself what he is doing that 
is wrong. Unhappiness is a sign that a person is adjusting 
poorly. He should search for something different to do, and 
his happiness will take care of itself. 

Fear and Anger. When emotions are viewed from the 
angle of what a person does, they fall into the two groups, 
fear and anger. Of course there is a subjective aspect to these 
emotions, but the visceral behavior is very little different in 
the two. The main difference lies in the kind of response that 
is made, whether the person is making an overt aggressive re¬ 
sponse or is retiring from the difficulty. 

The first response to thwarting is an aggressive type of con¬ 
duct. If a child is held so that he cannot move, he will resist 
the restraint and fight. If his resistance is overcome and he is 
made to suffer for attempting to resist, a condition of inac¬ 
tivity or fear results. When this condition is pronounced, the 
muscles become paralyzed. The child is tense, but he cannot 
do anything. 

The transition from anger to fear and from fear to anger is 
often very sudden and very easily accomplished. An animal 
may begin to fight an enemy. Getting the worst of it, he may 
run. Being cornered, he may tremble in a paralysis of fear; 
but if threatened too insistently he may turn and fight with 
extreme energy. 


328 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

A person may develop a habit of reacting to difficulties by 
either fear or anger. In some instances the habit of fear may 
be justifiable. One should have a fear of foolhardy things. 
But if a person reacts with fear too frequently, he may become 
a slave, a mere tool of others who are not so motivated. 

At various times in the history of the world fear and anger 
have been predominant in the activities of the majority of men. 
Savages were held in check by superstitious fears of things 
they did not understand. During the Middle Ages men were 
motivated by fear. To-day in this country there is a pre¬ 
dominance of aggressive behavior and people are afraid of very 
few things. Other nations look on in horror waiting for us to 
meet with some catastrophe. From the point of view of Ameri¬ 
cans, progress follows when men are unafraid. We are placing 
emphasis in our modern life upon aggressiveness and spon¬ 
taneity instead of upon obedience and senseless fear, and the 
results seem to indicate that our emphasis is sound. 

Men who have to handle other men can get a lesson from the 
interplay of fear and anger. If you desire men to act as mere 
machines, to do nothing but what you tell them, then train 
them to be afraid to disobey you. If you want them to show 
initiative, then teach them to resist difficulties, to be unafraid 
to do things differently. The fearful person learns far less 
than his fearless brother. The child who sits trembling at the 
foot of the tree does not learn to climb; the child who is 
fearless climbs to the top. Which is better: to learn to climb 
at the risk of breaking a leg, or to play safe and never learn? 

Certainly the person who is fearless has a great advantage 
over the fearful one. The author knows two boys who played 
hide-and-seek together. One of them was afraid of the dark, 
the other was not. The boy who was not afraid of the dark 
would hide in a closet where the other boy did not dare to come, 
and so was able to win the game. This story typifies what is 
happening continually in adult life. While the fearful person 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


329 


is hesitating, questioning whether he dares to do a thing, the 
fearless one is getting the thing done. 

It must not be forgotten, however, that there is a place in 
life for legitimate fear. More than a thousand people are 
killed each year by automobiles in the city of Chicago alone. 
Many thousands more are maimed and injured. We should 
maintain a healthy fear of getting in front of a moving car. 
It is foolhardy to work with high-tension electric-light wires 
without testing them first to see whether they are charged. 
Uncovered high-speed gears and poisonous gases take a large 
toll of lives each year in industry. There is always more or 
less danger in any type of activity. We should be courageous 
but not without counting the cost. 

Love and Hate. We cannot as a rule react to our environ¬ 
ment without reacting to other human beings. For this reason, 
people furnish the stimuli for many of our emotional reactions. 
Social emotional reactions are not essentially different from 
those already described, but the complications which arise 
make their expression unique. 

In normal development of emotional attitudes toward others 
we usually go through a series of stages which, while not uni¬ 
form and regular, are at least distinguishable. 

1. The egocentric stage. In infancy a child becomes tense 
when he is physically uncomfortable and relaxed when he is 
comfortable. Human beings are no more to him than any 
other objective factor which contributes to the sum total of 
his comfort or detracts from it. He loves only himself, because 
he has not learned the significance of any adjustment to other 
persons. 

2. The stage of parental love. Soon the child discovers that 
his comfort is dependent upon the ministrations of his mother, 
nurse, father, or other members of the household. They be¬ 
come substitute stimuli, and his happiness depends upon their 
conduct. Since the mother is usually primarily involved in his 


330 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


early comfort, she is likely to be the first object of his attach¬ 
ment. If other children in the household interfere with his 
satisfactions, they may become emotional stimuli of a nega¬ 
tive sort, stimuli to arouse hate and jealousy. If the other 
children help to make him comfortable, they will evoke fa¬ 
vorable responses. 

3. The gang stage. After the child grows older, he broadens 
his contacts and learns to respond to other children, usually of 
his own sex. This stage has often been called the homosexual 
stage, but there is really little significance in the fact that his 
friends at this stage are of his own sex for the reason that 
adults make for him an environment in which he is likely to 
be more happy with his own sex than with those of the 
other sex. 

4. The heterosexual stage. With the onset of adolescence, 
he develops new visceral tensions which make his emotional 
reactions to the other sex different from those to his own. If 
his contacts with the other sex are of a satisfactory nature, he 
learns to include them as a part of emotional life. But if per¬ 
sons of the other sex make him uncomfortable and unhappy, 
he is likely to develop an antagonistic attitude and hate them. 
Most adolescent children have a series of oscillations between 
love and hate for the other sex which eventually terminates 
in that emotion which has the predominance of favorable 
aspects. 

5. The altruistic stage. The final adjustment which society 
considers ideal is the one in which the individual has made so 
complete an adjustment to other persons that they become es¬ 
sential to his happiness. This development does not occur 
universally, however. Some persons have such unfortunate 
experiences with others that they develop an attitude of with¬ 
drawal when confronted with others. They develop an attitude 
of hate rather than one of love. 

This development of the attitudes which we have outlined 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


33i 


is a complication of the conditioning which we have called sub¬ 
stitute stimuli. People become stimuli for different types of 
emotional tension or relaxation in a very complex manner. The 
adult spends a large part of his life reacting in one manner or 
another to social stimuli. 

Another phase of social emotions is the development of 
various types of substitute responses. A child sits on his 
mother’s lap, feels her hand on his face, and responds to it. 
He learns to talk to other people, to play games with them, to 
fight with them, to engage in sports with them, to be influenced 
by their reactions, to strike bargains with them, to take things 
from them, to give things to them, to sit with them in public 
places, to eat with them, and all the other things that make up 
social intercourse. So much of personality is involved in these 
responses that one can almost judge a person’s whole make-up 
by the way he acts toward other persons. As it has been so 
aptly put, “ You can tell more about a person by what he says 
about others than by what they say about him.” 

Complex Forms of Love. The child neither loves nor 
hates his parents instinctively. He learns to love his parents 
in the same way that he learns to love other things. The only 
difference between his love for his parents and for others, or 
even for inanimate things like food, is one of degree. The 
basis for the child’s love for his parents is in large part the 
fact that it is they who provide the food and otherwise minister 
to his needs. In addition to providing food, the mother cud¬ 
dles and pets the child. As these relationships continue, re¬ 
ciprocal love is built up between the mother and child. 

Only when the ministrations are not forthcoming, or more 
often when they are unwisely given, will friction arise. In 
such cases instead of love, hate will develop. The conditions 
of the home are extended on a broader but less intensive 
scale in the whole social community. On such bases do social 
friendships and hatreds develop. 


332 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Although there are many elaborations as well as many other 
elements involved, the state may be regarded as an exalted 
family, motivated by the same needs, and shot through with 
the same loves and prejudices. The historic basis is not the 
only similarity between the home and the state. They possess 
the same inherent structures. 

Religion and its organized expression, the church, are built 
upon the same foundation. The fatherhood of God and the 
brotherhood of man form the basis of practically all modern 
religions. Its expression in Jewish or Christian doctrine, or 
even in Mohammedanism, is only a matter of variation in form. 
When we try to distinguish between Protestant and Catholic 
or between the many sects in Protestantism, the variation of 
this theme becomes less and less marked. 

The life of the adult is largely a matter of his relations with 
other persons. He is constantly dealing with the problems of 
likes and dislikes. These are expressed in home life, in po¬ 
litical contacts, in business, in religion, and in the thousand 
and one forms in which man meets his fellows. In all of these 
relations fears, loves, hates, anger, disgust, and their finer 
gradations constitute his guiding forces. These in turn 
are elaborations of more fundamental drives of hunger, sex, 
pain, digestive processes, and glandular activities. Therefore, 
instead of disparaging emotional urges, we should recognize 
that they are neither base nor worthy in and of themselves, 
but according to how they are expressed and what their 
social consequences are. We shall learn more about this topic 
in Chapter XIII. 

Enjoyment of Emotions. Adults often use emotions as a 
means of enjoyment. They cultivate them because they have 
learned to get some satisfaction from them and not primarily 
because they need them in order to adjust to novel circum¬ 
stances. 

The way in which this learning takes place may be under- 


EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR 


333 


stood by observing a child. Should he drop his spoon the clat¬ 
ter when it strikes the floor may give him a shock. He jumps, 
cries, and then sees the spoon lying harmlessly on the floor. Let 
the nurse pick it up and hand it to him and he will deliberately 
throw it to the floor, closing his eyes, and going through the 
preliminaries of being afraid even before the spoon strikes the 
floor. Now his shudder is followed by gleeful laughter as he 
repeats the performance. He has learned to enjoy being 
frightened. 

In later years, we see persons going on roller coasters because 
of the sinking feeling it creates in them; they will be pale with 
terror, will scream, and in some cases actually become nause¬ 
ated ; then they will go back and ride again. We witness a stage 
performance so that we can have our emotions stirred; we read 
ghastly tales of accident and crime in our daily papers, or run 
wildly to a fire or an accident, not because we may be of help, 
but because we may get some emotional excitement from these 
situations. 

Influencing Other Persons by Emotional Behavior. The 

sophisticated adult uses his emotional behavior for the purpose 
of influencing other persons to do his bidding. He no longer 
is emotional primarily because he needs to relieve his internal 
visceral tensions, nor because he wishes to enjoy his own emo¬ 
tional reactions, but because he has discovered that the conduct 
of others is greatly influenced by the emotional reactions of 
those around them. He manifests anger, for example, not as 
a direct response to thwarting as the infant does, but because 
he has discovered that the other person may easily be subdued 
by those who manifest anger. He looks happy, not so much 
because he is happy as because happiness appears to be the 
best sort of influence to exert upon others to gain his ends. If 
crying and expressions of sorrow will accomplish his purposes 
he becomes sad. The child behaves emotionally because he 
must do so, impelled by the intensity of the stimulating circum- 


334 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


stances; the adult behaves emotionally because it is the rational 
thing to do under the circumstances. 

To state it a little differently, the emotionally learned indi¬ 
vidual inserts a rational step between the emotional stimulus 
and his response. He has learned that other persons are the 
greatest interferences to his wishes. They thwart him; he rea¬ 
sons the necessary procedure that he should use to get them to 
respond to his desires; he has learned that some sort of emo¬ 
tional expression is the surest way to accomplish ends; he se¬ 
lects the best type of emotion to fit the present circumstances 
and then displays that type. 

Selected References 

Allport, F. H., Social Psychology, Chapter IV. Houghton Mifflin, 
1924. 

Carr, H. A., Psychology, Chapter XIII. Longmans, 1925. 
Dashiell, J. F., Fundamentals of Objective Psychology, Chapter 
IX. Houghton Mifflin, 1928. 

Gault, R. H., and Howard, D. T., Outlines of General Psychology, 
Chapter XII. Longmans, 1925. 

Sherman, Mandell and Irene Case, The Process of Human 
Behavior. Norton, 1929. 

Woodworth, R. S., Psychology, Chapters XII-XIII. Holt, 1934. 


CHAPTER XI 


MENTAL ALERTNESS 

L. What Is Intelligence? 

As the complexities of life increase, men show marked dif¬ 
ferences in their ability to make satisfactory adjustments to 
the problems which confront them. Why do they differ in 
this respect? Is it because of inherited capacities or is it due 
to training? Let us see what answers have been given to these 
questions. 

Individual Differences in Intelligence. Thus far we have 
been largely concerned with general principles. We have 
studied the behavior patterns that we should expect to find 
in most persons and have touched only incidentally on the 
way in which these may differ. In this and Chapter XII we 
shall be concerned with some of the important ways in which 
persons differ. The present chapter will deal with the problem 
of intelligence, and the following chapter with individual dif¬ 
ferences in other traits of personality. 

Individuals differ in every trait that we can mention. Ob¬ 
viously, they differ in weight and height. The fact that we can 
identify our friends among the hundreds of persons we see 
proves that people differ in physiognomic characteristics. Our 
jails testify to individual differences in morality or amenability 
to the social order. Bank accounts prove that men differ in 
their material possessions, and store clerks will bear witness 
that people differ in their tastes. 

In The Declaration of Independence appears the statement 
that “ all men are created equal.” This statement is quoted 
by some unthinking persons as evidence that our democracy 

335 


33 6 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

is built upon the philosophy that there are no individual differ¬ 
ences. The philosophy of democracy holds that each person 
should have an equal right to live his life as he sees fit, limited 
only by consideration for the rights of others. The full quo¬ 
tation which makes the meaning clear is: “We hold these 
truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal, 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 
rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness.” It is equality of opportunity to which The Decla¬ 
ration of Independence refers and not equality of height, 
weight, tastes, morality, ability, or personality. 

The average man would not enjoy being treated as though 
he were Einstein; he would not understand the abstract state¬ 
ments that would be made, and he would be bored by the 
technicalities involved. Nor would he want to be treated like 
an idiot — spoon-fed, nursed, dressed, and ignored in any seri¬ 
ous situation. 

The whole secret of social adaptation is an understanding 
of the differences in people and the ability to treat each one 
differently in just the proper degree. Some of our differences 
we are ashamed of and attempt to conceal. Of other of our dif¬ 
ferences we are extremely proud. We wisely ignore the un¬ 
desirable traits in another and acknowledge his praiseworthy 
ones. Nevertheless, we recognize that he is different and he 
honors us for treating him differently. 

Intelligence is a characteristic of which a person is often 
either proud or ashamed. He is ashamed if there is the slight¬ 
est intimation that he lacks it, or extremely proud if he thinks 
he excels in it. This should not be the case. One should be 
able to recognize his intellectual status and order his life ac¬ 
cordingly. As we shall show presently, intelligence is only 
one of many traits that one may possess. If a person is not 
so alert as his companions, he may by more persistence and 
industry keep abreast. Indeed, it sometimes happens that 


MENTAL ALERTNESS 


337 


the alert person becomes so vain that he grows lazy in his 
habits and is surpassed by his slower but more persistent 
comrades. 

Definitions of Intelligence. It is not easy to define in¬ 
telligence. Many definitions have been given, but none of them 
is entirely satisfactory. The one which has had the widest 
acceptance was given by Stern, a German psychologist. He 
defined intelligence as the ability to meet and solve novel 
situations. 

The most serious difficulty with this definition is that it 
does not make clear what he means by a novel situation. Some 
kinds of situations require one type of ability and some kinds 
require another. The evidence seems to show rather con¬ 
clusively that a person who is able to solve one type of prob¬ 
lem may not be able to solve another type. A man may be 
able to learn music or football and not be able to learn 
trigonometry. 

Another definition of intelligence which has often been given 
is that it is the ability to learn. This definition presents the 
same difficulty as the preceding one, but it has the advantage 
of being more concrete. If we take school work as a measure 
of ability to learn (admitting that it is not a perfect measure, 
but probably the best there is), we have something with which 
to compare or measure intelligence. On the other hand, we 
have all known persons who have a wealth of knowledge in 
some particular but who are not able to use it. This definition 
of intelligence, then, should include the ability to apply what 
has been learned. 

Probably the best definition is the one that characterizes in¬ 
telligence as the ability to make successful adjustments to the 
problems of life. This definition implies that a person has 
learned a number of ways of responding; that is, he has formed 
a large number of satisfactory bonds between stimuli and re¬ 
sponses. In addition, it implies that he knows how to apply 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


338 

this learning to the problems of life as they arise. If a person 
can make many successful adjustments, he is intelligent; if he 
cannot make successful adjustments, he is, to the degree to 
which he is incapable of making them, unintelligent. 

It is this third definition of intelligence which we shall use 
in our discussion. 

Factors in Intelligence. Two factors are indissolubly 
bound together in intelligence. One is the innate factor and 
the other is the environmental factor. There can be no in¬ 
telligence with either of these factors absent. Furthermore, it 
is practically impossible to determine in any situation just 
what part of the individual’s reaction is learned and what part 
is inherited. 

All intelligence must be founded upon an innate basis. We 
do not know what all these innate factors are. Undoubtedly, 
certain characteristics of the nervous system, such as the num¬ 
ber of neurones, the complexity of their inter-connections, the 
permeability of the synapses, and the retentivity of the synaptic 
connections, as well as several other less apparent factors, form 
the innate background of intelligence. It is apparent that in¬ 
telligence is not dependent upon some single or unit character, 
but upon a number of inherited factors. Because of this com¬ 
plexity of factors, many different combinations are possible. 
Generally the child is like one or both of the parents, but this 
is not always true. Inheritance of intelligence cannot be ex¬ 
plained upon any simple Mendelian ratio. But it can be ac¬ 
counted for by assuming a number of dominant and recessive 
factors. By such an assumption only can we account for the 
occasional mentally inferior child of mentally superior parents, 
reared in good home conditions. 

These innate elements of intelligence cannot exist unmodi¬ 
fied by environmental influences. If the innate factors are 
favorable and the training good, the intelligence will be high. 
If the innate factors are favorable and the training poor, the 


MENTAL ALERTNESS 


339 


intelligence will be mediocre. If the innate factors are poor 
and the training good, the intelligence will be low to fair. If 
the inheritance is poor and the training poor, the intelligence 
will be low. 

It is not to be inferred from this discussion that a good 
environment or good training can compensate for very low 
innate ability. A certain capacity must exist or the best of 
training can do little good. But if there is a fair degree of 
ability, training can greatly improve the individual. 

Two equally fallacious doctrines have been held concerning 
intelligence. One of these maintains that there is little dif¬ 
ference in real ability among persons. This point of view is 
expressed in the saying: “ Success is nine-tenths perspiration 
and one-tenth inspiration.” This is a comforting thought, 
but it has one serious fault: it is not true. Witness the great 
number of serious-minded, hard-working individuals who never 
succeed. Even if the author practiced faithfully for a lifetime, 
he could never run a hundred yards in 9% seconds or write 245 
words per minute on the typewriter. On the other hand, al¬ 
though he has had no special practice, he has never found any¬ 
one, among the few thousand whose records are known, who 
can equal his record in strength of grip. The fact is, we inherit 
abilities in certain traits and disabilities in others. 

The other doctrine, equally fallacious, holds that intelligence 
is innate and cannot be influenced by training. If this doc¬ 
trine were literally true, why have institutions of learning? 
The intelligent person would be sure to succeed anyway, and 
we could not help those with limited ability. Although very 
few hold this extreme view, a doctrine of determinism or 
fatalism is sometimes preached which is extremely pernicious. 
Training does not improve the innate capacity, but, as has al¬ 
ready been said, it can make the best of what there is, and this 
is a goal which is never fully attained. 

Several experimental studies lend credence to this view. 


340 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Baldwin, Lincoln, Rugg, and others have found that when a 
child remains in his normal home environment, his intelligence 
level does not change much (seldom more than about five 
points in a hundred). But Terman and Yerkes have both 
shown that the social level of the parents influences intelli¬ 
gence-test scores. Terman says that of children of the same 
native ability, those coming from superior homes make a score 
about ten points higher than those coming from inferior homes. 
Freeman has recently shown by an interesting study that the 
intelligence-test scores of children may change when the chil¬ 
dren are adopted into other homes. The greater the change in 
the conditions of the home, the greater the change in test 
scores. In some cases, as a result of a few years in a superior 
home, the intelligence-test level was raised as many as fifteen 
or twenty points. 


LI. Description of Tests of Intelligence 

The most widely used intelligence tests are adaptations of 
the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale. Since this scale requires 
some language ability, it is not suitable for use with illiterates 
and foreigners. Performance tests have been devised to fill 
this need. The Binet-Simon and performance tests are in¬ 
dividual tests; that is, they require the entire time of one 
examiner to examine one subject. Group tests have been 
devised and are now widely used. With these tests one ex¬ 
aminer can examine a group of subjects simultaneously. 
Group tests are not so accurate as individual tests, but they 
are very valuable in making surveys of large groups of 
persons. 

The Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale. In 1904, Dr. Alfred 
Binet and Dr. Theodore Simon were given the task of finding 
out which children in the Paris schools needed special instruc¬ 
tion. The result of this commission was the construction of 
the first successful intelligence test. 


MENTAL ALERTNESS 


34i 


The general procedure in the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale 
is for the examiner to ask the subject certain questions and 
give him certain problems to solve. If the subject answers 
in accordance with certain definite standards, which the 
examiner must use, he is given credit. If his answers do not 
meet these fixed standards, he is not given credit for that 
particular item. 

The questions and problems of the test are grouped accord¬ 
ing to years. For each year from three to eighteen, there are 
from six to eight problems. The items included in any year- 
group were placed there because, in the experimental trials, 
seventy-five per cent of the children of that particular age an¬ 
swered that item correctly. That is to say, the items of the 
test are placed where they are, not because of any theoretical 
assumption that they should be answered at that particular age 
level, but because on actual trial it was found that they were 
answered at that level. This method of standardizing tests by 
trying them out on a number of subjects is known as the em¬ 
pirical method of test standardization, and is the method which 
has guided practically all the successful developments of tests 
since the time of Binet. 

Not all the items in the scale are given to any one subject. 
It would obviously be a waste of time to give an eight-year- 
old child of normal intelligence every question from the three- 
year level up to the superior-adult, or eighteen-year, level. 
Instead of giving all the questions, the examiner goes low 
enough on the scale for the subject to answer correctly every 
question in a single year, and high enough for the subject to 
fail every test in a single year. In addition, the examiner 
gives all the problems in every year between these two ex¬ 
tremes. By averaging the results of this testing, the score of 
the subject can be expressed in terms of mental age. For ex¬ 
ample, suppose a child passes all the six-year tests, gets credit 
for eight months in the seven-year tests, gets credit for two 


342 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


months in the eight-year tests, and fails all the nine-year tests. 
His mental age would be six years (the level at which he passed 
all the tests), ten months (the additional credit for tests 
passed in years seven and eight). 

If a child eight years old makes a score of nine years on the 
test, such a score has quite a different significance from a 
similar score made by a ten-year-old child. The final score 
should not only indicate what a child accomplished but should 
also show how his accomplishment is related to what he might 
be expected to accomplish. In order to express this relation¬ 
ship, the child’s final score is expressed in terms of the in¬ 
telligence quotient (I.Q.). The I.Q. is obtained by dividing 
the mental age (M.A.), as obtained on the test, by the chrono¬ 
logical or actual age (C.A.). The I.Q. for all persons with a 
chronological age above 16 is obtained by dividing by 16, re¬ 
gardless of the actual chronological age of the subject. 

Sample Items from the 1911 Revision of the 
Binet-Simon Scale 

Age 3. 1. Points to the nose, eyes, and mouth 

2. Repeats two digits 

3. Enumerates objects in a picture 

4. Gives family name 

5. Repeats a sentence of six syllables 

Age 9. 1. Gives change for twenty cents 

2. Defines familiar words in terms superior to use 

3. Names the common coins 

4. Names in order the months of the year 

5. Answers easy questions on comprehension 

Age 15. 1. Repeats seven digits 

2. Finds three rhymes for a given word 

3. Repeats a sentence of twenty-six syllables 

4. Interprets pictures 

5. Interprets given facts 


MENTAL ALERTNESS 


343 


The Binet-Simon tests have been translated into English, re¬ 
vised, and adapted to American conditions. The most widely 
used adaptation is that made by Professor L. M. Terman and is 
known as the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Intelligence 
Scale. Other adaptations are the Kuhlmann Revision and the 
Yerkes-Bridges Point Scale. 

The examination takes about an hour and can be given only 
by a trained examiner. Although the tests may be used with 
adults, they were especially designed for use with children. 
They are not so satisfactory for the higher grades of intelligence. 
For these reasons, the tests have a limited use in industry. 

Significance of Intelligence Quotients. By the use of these 
tests with large groups of children and adults, the distribution 
of scores shown in Table VI has been obtained. This is as¬ 
sumed to be a normal distribution of the general population. 
By comparing the I.Q. of any person with these norms, his rela¬ 
tive standing can be obtained. 


Table VI. Distribution of Intelligence Quotients 


Intelligence Quotient 

Percentage of the 
Population Making 
These Scores 

Classification 

0-69 

i.5 

Mentally retarded 

70-79 

4-5 

Borderline 

80-89 

14 

Dull 

90-109 

60 

Normal 

110-119 

14 

Bright 

120-139 

5 

Very brigh t 

140 up 

1 

Genius or near genius 


Performance Tests. All the modified forms of the Binet- 
Simon tests require some knowledge of language and the ability 








GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


344 

to use it. This fact has always been recognized as a disad¬ 
vantage, and various attempts have been made to eliminate 
language in intelligence tests. The greatest advance in this 
respect has been the development of what are commonly called 
performance tests. The instructions for these tests are given 
mostly in pantomime, and the responses of the subject are 
largely in terms of the manipulation of objects. The tests are 
of especial value in testing illiterates, persons who do not un¬ 
derstand English, the deaf, and those with other handicaps 
which make the use of language a difficulty. 

The advantages which come from the use of performance 
tests would warrant a wider use of them were it not for the 
fact that they have never been sufficiently accurate to replace 
the Binet-Simon tests. 

Performance tests in great variety have been used. A great 
many modifications of block-fitting tests have been developed. 
Some depend upon the form of the block; others have pictures 
on the face of the block which furnish additional help in the 
correct solution. In one block test the subject has to build 
various patterns from blocks of varied colors. Other tests, 
more like puzzles, have been used to measure the significance 
of various types of performance employed in their solution. 
Others are in the form of mazes through which the person has 
to thread his way. 

The standardization of performance tests has been by the 
empirical method. A prospective test is given to persons who 
are known to be bright, as well as to those who are known to 
be mentally deficient. To have discriminatory value, a test 
must show a fairly clear distinction between the performances 
of the persons in these two groups. 

Group Tests. Just before and during the World War 
there was a demand for a test which could be given to large 
groups of adults at one time. Professor Otis constructed such 
a test in 1917. In 1918 a group of psychologists was ap- 


MENTAL ALERTNESS 


345 


pointed by the American Psychological Association to construct 
a test for use with army recruits. There were two special needs 
for such a test: first, to pick out those recruits who had suffi¬ 
cient ability to be trained as officers, and second, to pick out 
those who were not intelligent enough to perform the ordi¬ 
nary duties of soldiers. 

The test which was constructed for the purpose was called 
Army Alpha. This test consists of eight parts. The first is a 
test in following directions. The second is a test of simple 
problems in arithmetic. In another, the subject must tell the 
best of three possible answers to a question. Another part 
consists of questions on general information. 


Sample Items erom Army Alpha 
Test 2 

Get the answers to these examples as quickly as 
the side of the page to figure on if you need to. 
Samples: How many are 5 men and 10 men? 

If you walk 4 miles an hour for 3 hours 
how far do you walk? 

1. How many are 40 guns and 6 guns? 


2. 


3 - 


4 - 


If you save $6 a month for 5 months, how 
much will you save? 

If 32 men are divided into squads of 8, how 
many squads will there be? 

Mike had n cigars. He bought 3 more and 
then smoked 6. How many cigars did he 
have left? 

A company advanced 6 miles and retreated 3 
miles. How far was it then from its first 
position? 


you can. 

Answer ( 

Answer ( 
Answer ( 

Answer ( 

Answer ( 

Answer ( 

Answer ( 


Use 

i5 ) 

12 ) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 


Test 4 

If the two words of a pair mean the same or nearly the same, 
draw a line under same. If they mean opposite or nearly the op- 


346 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


posite, draw a line under opposite. If you cannot be sure, guess. 
The two samples are marked as they should be. 

Samples: good — bad . same — opposite 

little — small . same — opposite 


1. cold — hot ... 

2. long — short . 

3. bare — naked . 

4. joy — happiness 

5. find — lose 


same — opposite 
same — opposite 
same — opposite 
same — opposite 
same — opposite 


Test 8 

Notice the sample sentence: People hear with the EYES EARS 
NOSE MOUTH 

The correct word is ears because it makes the truest sentence. 

In each of the sentences below, you have four choices for the 
last word. Only one of them is correct. In each sentence, draw a 
line under the one of these four words which makes the truest sen¬ 
tence. If you cannot be sure, guess. The two samples are already 
marked as they should be. 

Samples: People hear with the EYES EARS NOSE MOUTH 

France is in EUROPE ASIA AFRICA AUSTRALIA 

1. America was discovered by DRAKE HUDSON CO¬ 

LUMBUS CABOT 

2. Pinochle is played with RACKETS CARDS PINS DICE 

3. The most prominent industry of Detroit is AUTOMOBILES 

BREWING FLOUR PACKING 

4. The Wyandotte is a kind of HORSE FOWL CATTLE 

GRANITE 

5. The U. S. School of Army Officers is at ANNAPOLIS WEST 

POINT NEW HAVEN ITHACA 

6. Food products are made by SMITH & WESSON SWIFT & 

CO. W. L. DOUGLAS B. T. BABBITT 

7. Bud Fisher is famous as an ACTOR AUTHOR BASE¬ 

BALL-PLAYER COMIC-ARTIST 

8. The Guernsey is a kind of HORSE GOAT SHEEP COW 













MENTAL ALERTNESS 


347 


9. Marguerite Clark is known as a SUFFRAGIST SINGER 
MOVIE-ACTRESS WRITER 

10. “ Hasn’t scratched yet ” is used in advertising a DUSTER 
FLOUR BRUSH CLEANSER 

In order to test men who were illiterate or unfamiliar with 
the English language, Army Beta was constructed. Beta 
consists of a series of drawings and mazes. The directions are 
given in pantomime. Although not so satisfactory a t ( est as 
Alpha, this test was used with the foreign-born and the illiter¬ 
ate natives. Equivalent scores were devised whereby the score 
in one test could be interpreted in terms of the other. 

Many other group tests have been devised since the army 
tests. Some of these which have had the widest usage are the 
Thorndike tests, the American Council of Education tests, 
the Otis Self-Administering tests, the Morgan Mental test, and 
the Scott test. Each has its own special advantage. 1 In cer¬ 
tain situations, one is better; in other situations, another test 
will prove more satisfactory. 

LII. The Use of Tests 

Tests were originally used primarily to measure the ability 
of school children as a means of educational guidance, but 
their use has been extended to measure the ability of appli¬ 
cants for entrance to college and to determine the classifica¬ 
tion and placement of workers in industry. 

Principal Uses of Intelligence Tests. The principal uses 
that have been made of intelligence tests are: 

1. The classification of children in the schools. Children 
may be placed in a certain grade on the basis of an intelli¬ 
gence test. Pintner and Noble classified a whole school in 
Columbus, Ohio, on the basis of intelligence-test scores. The 
experiment proved to be an improvement over the traditional 

1 Most of these tests may be obtained from the World Book Co., 
Yonkers, N. Y., or the Public School Publishing Co., Bloomington, Ill. 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


348 

methods of promotion. Some children, as the result of the 
test, were promoted a whole year, while others were demoted. 
The reclassification not only improved the classroom work, but 
the deportment as well. The bright child who is kept back 
often develops habits of idleness, and if he is active, is likely 
to be a real trouble-maker. The dull child loses interest be¬ 
cause much of the material is too difficult for him. He either 
becomes resigned to his fate, develops into a disturbing ele¬ 
ment in the school, or uses all his ingenuity in devising ways 
of getting out of school. To be sure, intelligence is only one 
factor in school success, but it is without doubt the most im¬ 
portant single factor. 

Children transferring from one school system to another 
are sometimes classified upon the basis of intelligence tests, 
achievement tests, or both. This plan generally proves more 
satisfactory than accepting grades from another school sys¬ 
tem or giving an ordinary entrance examination. 

The use of intelligence tests may be an aid in discovering 
the cause of a child’s failure in school. There are many causes 
of failure, but by the use of intelligence tests, we may be able 
to discover whether or not failure is due to lack of ability. 

2. The selection of students seeking admission to college . 
Many private colleges and universities use tests as a basis for 
selecting entrants. Some state universities make a limited use 
of tests. It has been found that intelligence-test scores and 
the high-school records together form the best possible basis 
for prediction of probable college success or failure. Failure 
in college is a loss to both the student and the institution. If, 
by a series of tests, it is possible to predict success or failure, 
a real service has been performed. 

The usual method of determining the value of intelligence 
tests for selecting prospective college students is to correlate 
the intelligence-test scores of students already in college 
with their standings in scholarship. In the many studies of 


MENTAL ALERTNESS 


349 


this kind which have been made, the correlation 1 between 
grades and intelligence-test scores has generally been from 
0.35 to 0.60 when valid intelligence tests have been used. These 
correlation figures give an indication of the value of such tests 
in predicting college success. 

Intelligence-test scores have been used in dividing classes 
into brighter and slower sections. Large classes are often di¬ 
vided into three sections on the basis of ability. Sometimes 
the superior students are allowed to take more work and finish 
college in a shorter time. Sometimes the sections of brighter 
students are given special assignments. In some colleges, 
superior students are given special problems upon which they 
are expected to make original investigations or independent 
study. These are called honor courses or independent-study 
courses 

The author has divided a class in general psychology into 
three quiz sections on the basis of ability and scholarship. The 
bright group spends the hour in constructive discussion and on 
new problems. The slow group spends the time in review and 
drill on fundamentals. 

3. The selection of workers in industry. Intelligence tests 
have often been used in the selection of clerical help and the 
higher types of workers and executives. Many studies have 
proved the practical use of such tests in selection and pro¬ 
motion. 

Differences in the intelligence of men in different vocations 
were clearly demonstrated by the use of Army Alpha during 
the World War. The Alpha test was given to 1,750,000 men. 
In Table VI the scores of men in different occupations are 
given. 

1 Correlation is a mathematical method of expressing relationship be¬ 
tween two sets of scores made by the same individuals. If there is a 
complete, direct relationship, the correlation is 1.00. If there is no re¬ 
lationship, the correlation is o. If there is a complete, inverse relation¬ 
ship, the correlation is —1.00. 


3So 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Table VII. Average Scores on Army Alpha Test Made 
by Men in Different Vocational Groups 


Group 

Low Quarter 

Average 

High Quarter 

College Students 

in 

150 

178 

Civil Engineers 

99 

117 

143 

Bookkeepers 

77 

101 

127 

Telegraphers 

61 

85 

no 

Telephone Operators 

52 

70 

100 

Carpenters 

40 

60 

84 

Truck Drivers 

37 

58 

88 

Barbers 

37 

58 

83 

Farmers 

30 

48 

73 

Laborers 

28 

47 

68 


The high and low quarters are given for each group. The table 
is read as follows: The average score for college students was 150 with 
50% falling between the scores hi and 178; the average score for 
civil engineers was 117 with 50% falling between the scores 99 and 
143; etc. The highest possible score on the test is 212. 

From this table it is apparent that the amount of ability re¬ 
quired in these different occupations varies greatly. It is also 
probable that the scores in the low quarter indicate about the 
lowest limit necessary for success in the respective occupations. 
Practical experience has shown that the college student who 
cannot make more than no on Army Alpha is not likely to suc¬ 
ceed in college. There are many exceptions to this rule, but 
it is about as safe a basis for prediction as we have. Some 
students who make no or below will succeed, and many 
who make more than 150 will fail; but these exceptions 
can generally be accounted for by some factor which the test 
does not measure, such as unusual industry, persistence, in¬ 
sufficient time for study, poor health, and the like. Similarly, 








MENTAL ALERTNESS 


35i 


not all barbers are so deficient in intelligence that they cannot 
make more than 83. Neither is it true that a barber who can¬ 
not make 37 is necessarily a poor barber. Yet it would hardly 
be advisable to recommend that anyone making less than 37 
try to learn barbering unless he has some good reason for try¬ 
ing. From these statements, it will be noted that these scores 
are generally indicative of the general ability demanded for the 



Fig. 55. Distribution of the Scores on Army Alpha of 
Army Recruits and College Freshmen 


The heights of the columns are proportional to the per cent of 
the group making the corresponding score on the base line. (From 
Woodworth, Psychology. Henry Holt and Company.) 

different occupations. Of course, barbering, like many other 
occupations, depends upon special skills. These special skills 
may be more important for success than intelligence. How¬ 
ever, a certain amount of intelligence is essential in any 
occupation. 

A graphic comparison of the scores made by army recruits 
and by college freshmen on Army Alpha is given in Figure 55. 

The Relative Value of Tests and Ratings. Scott and 
Clothier describe the use of tests with several groups of em¬ 
ployees. In one company, tests were given to a group of 










352 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Table VIII. Mental Test Scores and Supervisors’ 
Rankings 

(From Scott and Clothier, Personnel Management, by courtesy of 
McGraw-Hill Book Company.) 


1 Employee 

Test Score 

Test Ranking 

Supervisors' 
Combined Ranking 

A 

67 

1 

2 

B 

63 

2 

3-5 

C 

61 

3 

5 

D 

59 

4 

6 

E 

54 

5 

7 

F 

52 

6 

1 

G 

5o 

7 

14 

H 

50 

8 

9 

I 

48 

9 

3-5 

J 

47 

10 

12 

K 

46 

11 

15 

L 

43 

12 

18 

M 

4 i 

13 

8 

N 

40 

14 

16.5 

0 

37 

15 

10 

P 

36 

16 

13 

Q 

3 2 

17 

11 

R 

23 

18 

16.5 

S 

i5 

19 

*9 


This table shows a comparison of mental alertness scores, ranking 
in the test, and the supervisors’ rankings in “ general value ” for 
nineteen employees in a study of a typical industry employing women 
stenographers, typists, and clerks. 











MENTAL ALERTNESS 


353 


women stenographers, typists, and clerks. These same em¬ 
ployees were rated for “ general value ” by two supervisors. 
Table VIII gives the test scores (Scott Mental Alertness 
Test), the test ranking, and the combined ratings of the 
supervisors. 


Applicants 

• •• 

• • 

Company A 

• 

• • •• •• • • ♦ •• • 

Employees 

• 

• ••• 

T 






Company D 

Applicants 

Employees 

1 

• 

• • • 

• • • • • • 


.. ' I . 

• • •• •• 

1 

1 1 1 ! 1 

10 20 

Scores 

T Indicates Average 

30 40 50 60 70 

in Mental Alertness Tests 


Fig. 56. Comparison of Test Scores of Applicants with 
Those of Employees for Two Different Companies 

(From Scott and Clothier, Personnel Management, by courtesy of 
McGraw-Hill Book Company.) 

While there is not a perfect correlation between the ranking 
by the test and by the supervisors, there is a large amount of 
agreement between them. In only two cases — employees G 
and M — were the rankings widely different. Other similar 
results have been secured by these and other investigators. 

Scott and Clothier also compared the test scores of the 
women clerical employees of two different companies with the 













354 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


scores made by applicants for positions with these companies. 
Figure 56 presents the results of this study. In this figure, 
each dot represents a person’s score on the test. The rejected 
applicants for positions with the two companies are of about 
equal ability. However, in Company A most of the women 
with low scores are retained, while those with high scores tend 
to withdraw. In Company D, many of the applicants with low 
scores are not employed. Furthermore, women with high scores 
tend to remain with the company. 

Which company is making the better selection and retaining 
the better type of employees? We are probably tempted to say 
that Company D is doing better. This is true if the type of 
work that these companies are doing requires a high degree of 
intelligence. On the other hand, if the work can be done 
efficiently by women with a lower degree of intelligence, Com¬ 
pany A is doing better. We can answer this question only 
after a study of the type of work that these employees are 
doing and a study of the relative efficiency of the two groups. 
When we have determined the degree of mental ability re¬ 
quired for a job, we can use intelligence tests to aid in select¬ 
ing applicants with that amount of ability. 

It is just as important in many cases to determine the up¬ 
per limits of intelligence needed for a job as to determine the 
lower limits. Dr. Snow found that men with intelligence above 
a certain level, although they might make good cab-drivers, did 
not stay at their jobs long enough to make it profitable to em¬ 
ploy them. He therefore set a maximum score as well as a 
minimum score, and hired only those making a score some¬ 
where between these limits. Dr. Kenagy made a similar dis¬ 
covery in a study of salesmen. The only difference between 
these two studies was the fact that a higher degree of intelli¬ 
gence was required for the salesmen. 

Scott and Clothier report another study which shows a com¬ 
parison of the ratings of employees made by different mana- 


MENTAL ALERTNESS 


355 


Table IX. Test Scores and Managers’ Rankings Compared 
(From Scott and Clothier, Personnel Management, McGraw-Hill Co.) 


Name 

Test 

Firm 

Man- 

Man- 

Man¬ 

Man¬ 

Man¬ 

Man¬ 

Rank 

Rank 

ager I 

ager II 

ager III 

ager IV 

ager V 

ager VI 

A 

i 

10 

6 

5 

!3 

9 

12 

12 

B 

2 

1 

1 



2 


3 

C 

3 

2 

2 

9 

1 

11 


1 

D 

4 

5 

11 

3 

7 

3 

15 

5 

E 

5 

9 

13 




10 

10 

F 

6 

3 

4 

6 


20 

2 

2 

G 

7 

4 

4 

1 

3 

6 

6 


H 

8 

14 

14 


15 

26 

20 

6 

I 

9 

12 

9 

13 

25 

5 

8 

16 

J 

IO 

8 

10 




3 

14 

K 

ii 

i 5 

15 

20 


14 

25 

8 

L 

12 

7 

8 

15 

9 

8 

1 

15 

M 

13 

6 

5 

8 

5 

15 

5 

13 

N 

i 4 

13 

12 

18 



9 

r8 

0 

i 5 

16 

16 




11 

19 

P 

16 

20 

27 

23 

21 


14 

9 . 

Q 

i 7 

23 

20 

16 

19 

23 

27 

26 

R 

18 

22 

19 

28 


27 

22 

17 

S 

19 

21 

23 

21 

i 7 


18 

24 

T 

20 

26 

25 




16 

25 

U 

21 

18 

18 




24 

11 

V 

22 

17 

17 

26 



4 


w 

23 

19 



27 

17 

13 

22 

X 

24 

24 

26 


23 

18 

17 

23 

Y 

25 

25 

22 

24 


21 

23 

27 

Z 

26 

11 


11 

11 

12 

19 

4 

AA 

27 

27 

24 


28 

24 

26 

28 

BB 

28 

28 

28 




28 

20 



Coefficients of Correlation 




Tests 


.825 

.850 

.736 

•633 

.582 

•535 

.674 

Firm Rank 


•95i 

.844 

.879 

.689 

•730 

.802 

Man. I 




.786 

.814 

•598 

.725 

.663 

Man. II 




.691 

.627 

•353 

.611 

Man. Ill 





.490 

•438 

.706 

Man. IV 






•577 

•493 

Man. V 







.320 

II, III, 
IV, V 

} -768 


.886 







































35 6 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

gers, the ratings these employees made of each other, 
and the intelligence-test scores of the persons rated. From 
Table IX we see that the test rank of employee A was i; the 
combined ratings of the managers gave him rank io. How¬ 
ever, Manager I ranked this man 6, and Manager II ranked 
him 5. While there are discrepancies like this between the 
rankings, there is considerable general agreement between the 
test scores and the managers’ rankings. There is also gen¬ 
eral agreement between the rankings given by the different 
managers. 

The list of correlations given at the bottom of the table pro¬ 
vides a means of evaluating the rating ability of the different 
managers. For example, the rankings of Managers IV and V 
correlated lower with both test scores and the ranking of the 
other managers than any of the others. This is not final proof, 
but it is strong evidence that they are not so good raters, for 
example, as Manager I. 

Ratings like those obtained by Scott and Clothier may be 
obtained under favorable rating conditions. On the other 
hand, when care is not exercised or when other conditions for 
successful rating are not fulfilled, results like those cited by 
Professor Hollingworth are likely to be obtained. The usual 
care was exercised by Hollingworth in obtaining ratings by 
twelve sales-managers on 57 applicants after a personal inter¬ 
view of each applicant by each sales-manager. Ten ratings 
selected at random are presented in Table X. 

This lack of agreement between ratings by different super¬ 
visors presents a serious difficulty. Many different types of 
methods have been devised for rating intelligence, personality 
traits, and professional qualifications. Such schemes, when well 
devised and administered, give a great deal of valuable in¬ 
formation. But they must be carefully devised and ad¬ 
ministered. 


MENTAL ALERTNESS 


357 


Table X. Discrepancy in the Ratings op Ten Applicants 
por Positions by Twelve Sales-Managers 

(From Hollingworth, Judging Human Character, by courtesy of 
D. Appleton and Company.) 


Applicants 

Sales-Managers 

1 

2 

3 

4 

. 5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

A 

33 

46 

6 

56 

26 

32 

12 

38 

23 

22 

22 

9 

B 

36 

50 

43 

17 

5 i 

47 

38 

20 

38 

55 

39 

9 

C 

53 

10 

6 

21 

16 

9 

20 

2 

57 

28 

1 

26 

D 

44 

25 

13 

48 

7 

8 

43 

11 

17 

12 

20 

9 

E 

54 

4 i 

33 

19 

28 

48 

8 

10 

56 

8 

19 

26 

F 

18 

13 

13 

8 

11 

i 5 

15 

3 i 

32 

18 

25 

9 

G 

33 

2 

13 

16 

28 

46 

19 

32 

55 

4 

16 

9 

H 

13 

40 

6 

24 

5 i 

49 

10 

52 

54 

29 

21 

53 

I 

2 

36 

6 

23 

11 

7 

23 

17 

6 

5 

6 

9 

J 

43 

11 

13 

11 

37 

40 

36 

46 

25 

15 

29 

1 


From these results, it can be seen that applicant A, for ex¬ 
ample, was rated 6 by one sales-manager and 56 by another. 
That is, one man placed only five applicants out of the 57 
higher than applicant A, and the other placed only one lower. 
The ratings of other applicants show similar variations in 
opinion. Hollingworth says of these ratings: 

When it is borne in mind that these judges were not casual peo¬ 
ple who were enlisted in the investigation, but expert sales-managers, 
experienced interviewers, and directors of personnel, and that the 
position (salesmanship) for which they were rating the applicants 
was precisely in the line of work in which they had developed expert¬ 
ness and acquired positions of responsibility, the inference is clear. 




























GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


358 

However much the interview may be improved by better methods 
of inquiry and report, in its traditional form, it is highly unre¬ 
liable. 1 

Professor Rugg says there must be at least three raters, 
each of whom must know the men they are rating. These men 
must know how to rate. If they give all high ratings or all 
low ratings, the ratings are worthless. Good employees must 
be rated high and poor employees rated low. Furthermore, 
the raters must have clearly in mind the traits to be rated. 
Too often we find what is called the halo effect; that is, the 
rater has a general opinion of the person he is rating. This 
opinion may be either good or bad. Because of this general 
opinion, he is likely to rate the employee high or low in all 
the traits. Each trait must be considered separately. A man 
may be high in one trait and low in another. If all these con¬ 
ditions are not met, the ratings may be worse than useless; 
they may give wrong conclusions. 

We have gone into some detail in discussing ratings be¬ 
cause too often we have nothing better than ratings with which 
to compare test scores. It may be fair to assume that some¬ 
times the test scores are more reliable than the ratings with 
which they are compared. Ratings have their values and some¬ 
times we have nothing better, but wherever possible, we should 
use some more reliable measure of ability. Scholarship, grades, 
or output records, where available, constitute better checks 
with which to compare our test scores. 

Limitations of Intelligence Tests. There are three main 
reasons why intelligence tests do not predict with absolute 
certainty success in school or industry. 

1. The tests themselves are not perfect measures of intelli¬ 
gence as such. As yet, the best tests only approximate a per¬ 
fect measure. It is probable that a test can never be con- 

1 Hollingworth, H. L., Judging Human Character, p. 66. Appleton, 


1922 . 


MENTAL ALERTNESS 


359 

structed which will be as accurate a measure of intelligence 
as our physical measurements are in their respective fields. 
But by improved technique in test construction and validation, 
such a goal is being gradually approached. The better tests 
of the present time are near enough to this standard to make 
their use desirable. 

2. In most types of work there are factors other than intelli¬ 
gence necessary for success. For example, the most intelligent 
man in any group may not be a good carpenter, even though 
he has much more intelligence than the best carpenter. Fur¬ 
thermore, although he has more intelligence than an average 
man, he may not be able to learn to be a good carpenter. Car¬ 
pentry may require certain types of ability and certain specific 
training which are somewhat independent of intelligence. 

3. Other traits of personality besides intelligence are neces¬ 
sary for success. A man may have more than the requisite in¬ 
telligence to sell insurance, but not have sufficient sociability 
and aggressiveness to meet prospective buyers. A man may 
have the ability to sell questionable stocks, but his moral stand¬ 
ards may be so high that they prevent him from engaging in 
such an occupation. 

Yet, with all these limitations, it must be borne in mind 
that we must, use some method of selection. Hollingworth 1 
has shown us the fallacy of placing too much credence in the 
use of letters of application, photographs, or personal inter¬ 
views. While no method is perfect, in some circumstances in¬ 
telligence-test scores are of distinct value. 

Use of Intelligence Tests in Vocational Guidance. An¬ 
other use of intelligence tests is in vocational and educational 
guidance. Many factors must be taken into consideration in 
the guidance and training of young people. Among these are: 
(1) native capacity, which we have already considered in re- 

1 Hollingworth, H. L., Judging Human Character, Chapters 1-6. 
Appleton, 1922. 


3 6o general psychology 

lation to school work; (2) the amount of work or the quality 
of work done by the student; (3) the kind of training he 
should receive in preparation for his life work. From what 
has already been said, it is apparent that a child should not be 
induced, or even permitted, to go into a type of work for which 
he does not have the capacity necessary for success. Intelli¬ 
gence-test scores, therefore, should aid the counsellor in giving 
advice to children and young people concerning the selection 
of both their courses and their life work. While test scores 
should never be considered as complete measures of ability, 
they are the best single source of information available, and 
should be seriously considered in all educational and voca¬ 
tional guidance. 

Tests of Capacities Other Than Intelligence. The de¬ 
cided success that has attended the use of^ measures of intel¬ 
ligence has stimulated the attempt to devise tests to measure 
other capacities and personality traits. None of these has ap¬ 
proached the stage of perfection reached by the intelligence 
tests, but they are of value if used with some critical insight 
as to their limitations. 

1. Tests of mechanical ability. Of the factors other than 
intelligence which make for success or failure in industry, one 
of the most important is mechanical ability. There is a 
wide range of individual differences in mechanical aptitude. 
Training is a large factor in mechanical work, but even with 
the best training some persons lack the capacity to learn 
such things. 

Professor Stenquist has constructed a test for measuring 
general mechanical ability. His test consists of ten mechani¬ 
cal devices which have been disassembled. The subject is 
allowed thirty minutes to put as many of the articles to¬ 
gether as he can. There is a set of simple articles for children, 
and a set of more difficult ones for adults. Standard scores are 
available for different ages. The test has been used in the 


MENTAL ALERTNESS 


361 

schools to determine which students could profitably take 
courses in shop work and mechanical training. It has also 
been used in industry to select those who are most likely to 
succeed in mechanical work. 

2. Tests of musical ability. Some persons possess the abil¬ 
ity to sing or play some musical instrument. On the other 
hand, there are persons who can practice a lifetime and never 
become proficient in music. Professor Seashore has con¬ 
structed a test for the measurement of musical ability. This 
test consists of a series of five phonograph records. These 
records are constructed to measure: (1) pitch discrimination, 
(2) intensity, (3) rhythm, (4) consonance, and (5) tonal 
memory. While no very careful study has been made to show 
just how prognostic these tests are, they do seem to give con¬ 
siderable indication of musical ability. 

3. Tests of various skills. Executives, teachers, and others 
who must render some estimate of the achievement of persons 
under their supervision have always used tests of skill. The 
instructor constructs examinations and uses them to grade his 
pupils. The employer keeps records of the speed and accuracy 
with which his stenographer, his pressman, his lathe hands, and 
others work. Salesmen keep efficiency records. 

In most instances these tests and records are not standard¬ 
ized. They depend upon the whims of the examiner or the 
employer. Those who must keep records of their employees 
would do well to adopt the empirical method which psycholo¬ 
gists have found so valuable in the construction of intelli¬ 
gence tests. That is, they should give their test to many 
persons of known worth, and from the results' set up their 
standards. 

Interest and Ability. By the use of prognostic tests it is 
possible within certain limits to tell what capacities a person 
possesses. Such information gives a clue to the type of work 
a person is capable of doing. Aptitude tests indicate the abil- 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


362 

ity possessed by an individual as a result of training and prac¬ 
tice. There is one other factor of importance in determining 
the type of work which a person will do best — namely, in¬ 
terest. Any attempt at a selection of a life work which does 
not take interest into account is very likely to fail. Many a 
fond parent determines for the child what occupation he is to 
enter when he grows up. The parent may even consider the 
capacities of the child and send him to the kind of school which 
will prepare him for that work. But if the child’s interests are 
not taken into account, the plans are likely to fail. 

Several studies have been made to determine the relation¬ 
ship between interest and capacity. Does interest in any type 
of work indicate a probable capacity for that type of work? 
The evidence from these studies is conflicting. Some of the re¬ 
sults tend to indicate that there is a relationship between in¬ 
terest and ability, and some seem to prove that there is none. 
It is true, however, that in certain types of work a person with 
mediocre ability, but great interest, may succeed by sheer ap¬ 
plication. Therefore, it is probably best to determine the 
trend of the interests and the nature of the ability and then, 
from these facts, to direct the training toward a type of work 
in which the ability and interests merge. 

In the next chapter, we shall consider the social factors which 
determine the relation and standing of the individual with re¬ 
spect to the group. Any consideration which fails to take these 
social factors into account is inadequate. Man is primarily a 
social being, and the social phase of his life must be considered 
in any survey of his capacities and capabilities. 


Selected References 

Burtt, H., Principles of Employment Psychology, Chapters IV-V. 
Houghton Mifflin, 1926. 

Freeman, F. N., Mental Tests. Houghton Mifflin, 1926. 


MENTAL ALERTNESS 


363 

Kornhauser, A. W., and Kingsbury, F. A., Psychological Tests in 
Business. University of Chicago Press, 1924. 

Pintner, Rudolph, Intelligence Testing, New Edition. Holt, 1931. 
Scott, W. D., and Clothier, R. C., Personnel Management, Chap¬ 
ters XIV-XVII. McGraw-Hill, 1926. Also revised by S. B. 
Mathewson, 1931. 


CHAPTER XII 

PERSONALITY 

LIII. Outline of Some Personality Characteristics 

Personality is that part of an individual that distinguishes 
him from everybody else. When we say that a man gets on 
well with his superiors, is cooperative, energetic, ambitious, 
but honest and truthful, we are trying to describe his personal¬ 
ity. The problem of describing the personality of one in¬ 
dividual and differentiating that individual from all others 
presents a serious problem in psychology. 

Definition of Personality. We shall define personality as 
that group of complex behavior patterns and attitudes which 
differentiates one individual from another. Man affects his 
fellowmen in many different ways. He may associate with 
people or withdraw from them; he may lead them or he may 
be led by them; he may dominate others or be dominated. 
Such constitute factors or elements in personality as the term 
is here used. 

Personality has been defined in other ways. Ministers have 
used the term to indicate what they consider the divine part 
of man. Many have used the term as equivalent to self. We 
are making the distinction that self refers to the whole in¬ 
dividual, both social and nonsocial in character. William 
James used the word self in this broader sense, meaning by it 
both what he called “ the knower ” and “ the known.” In con¬ 
trast with the self as used by James we are using the word 
personality as synonymous with what he called the social self. 
Personality is often confused with character. We should 
364 



PERSONALITY 


36s 

confine the latter term to those types of social behavior and 
those social attitudes which are involved in the problems of 
right and wrong; that is, those factors which are socially ap¬ 
proved or disapproved. 

As thus defined we see the great importance of personality 
in our analysis of the individual. Certainly the large part of 
an individual’s life is concerned with his social relations. Be¬ 
fore man lived in large, highly organized groups, personality 
factors were not so vital, but as he became civilized and began 
to live in thickly settled communities, social relationships be¬ 
came more important. A give-and-take attitude developed be¬ 
tween people; men learned how to live together; leaders came 
to the front; governments were established; and industry was 
developed. Man had become essentially a social being. 

In modern society even the day laborer, relatively simple 
though his social contacts may be, cannot live apart from his 
fellows. As man progresses in the economic scale, his success 
becomes more and more dependent upon his social relations. 
In the highest forms of modern society man holds his economic 
position primarily on the basis of his personality. 

A Classification of Personality Traits. Many attempts 
have been made to analyze personality. Some lists of the ele¬ 
ments or traits of personality are very elaborate, one rather 
well known list containing more than a hundred items. Other 
lists are very brief; for example, one contains only three traits. 
There are all sorts of variations between these extremes. 

Manifestly personality is very complex, and any complete 
analysis would be likely to contain numerous items. On the 
other hand, any very elaborate classification defeats its main 
purpose — that of differentiating one social being from an¬ 
other. Any extended list of traits possesses a double disad¬ 
vantage: first, an almost unavoidable overlapping of the 
meanings of the items included in such a list; and second, the 
difficulty of rating or measuring even one person in a large 


3 66 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


number of traits, and the greater difficulty of comparing large 
numbers of persons with others. 

There are, therefore, at least several practical reasons for 
limiting the number of traits to five. We propose the following 
list of traits by which it is possible to differentiate one person 
from another: (i) personal appearance, (2) social intelligence, 
or sociability, (3) aggressiveness, (4) emotionality, and (5) 
morality. 

1. Personal appearance. In physical appearance men vary 
widely enough that one seldom mistakes one person for an¬ 
other. Two individuals may appear to be very similar, yet 
when examined as to height, weight, color of skin, facial fea¬ 
tures, and health, they will be found very different indeed. 
Additional differences may be noted in dress and features of 
personal hygiene. All these factors form the complex which 
we call personal appearance. For this discussion, physical 
differences are not significant in themselves but only as de¬ 
termining the attitude which one person has toward another. 
If the combination of the physical features in a person’s 
make-up is such as to impress others favorably, the person is 
said to have a pleasing personal appearance. If some un¬ 
favorable element is strong or if the combination of elements 
is not favorable, the person is said to have a displeasing 
personality. 

Personal appearance may contribute to or detract from suc¬ 
cess, especially in positions where social relations are impor¬ 
tant. It is probably the most important single factor in the 
selection of strangers for responsible positions. It is certainly 
most important for salesmen and private secretaries. The 
writer remembers that a board of education in one of our large 
cities once selected as superintendent of schools a man of ex¬ 
cellent personal appearance, though he was a stranger to all 
of them and they had investigated his record only super¬ 
ficially. A pleasing personal appearance won the position, 


PERSONALITY 


367 

with no question as to other factors which might affect his suc¬ 
cess. In industry such occurrences are not at all uncommon. 

One reason for placing so much dependence upon personal 
appearance is to be found in the popular belief that we can 
judge the real worth of a man at sight. When a person pre¬ 
sents a good appearance this is usually, but often fallaciously, 
taken as an indication of the fitness of the individual for any 
line of endeavor. In concluding this discussion, it is hardly 
necessary to say that too much importance has generally been 
attached to this one trait in contrast with others which may 
be equally or even more significant for success. 

2. Social intelligence. Intelligence is another trait of im¬ 
portance in social relations. This trait has been discussed in 
Chapter XI, but our approach here is somewhat narrower than 
in the preceding chapter. There we described intelligence as 
the capacity to adapt to life problems. Intelligence as a fac¬ 
tor in personality includes only those elements which are social 
in nature. It is true that our intelligence, when expressed in 
any form, affects our social relations at least indirectly. For 
example, if our intelligence is expressed in the form of making 
money, it affects our social position as well as our position for 
control of those under us. Although such expressions of in¬ 
telligence affect our personality indirectly, we are here restrict¬ 
ing the term social intelligence more specifically to intelligence 
as it is exhibited in our control of other people. Some men 
are very adept in such control and others seem most unin¬ 
telligent, but the majority of mankind is mediocre in this re¬ 
spect. It goes without saying that those who are high in gen¬ 
eral intelligence are not necessarily high in social intelligence. 
It is also true that some who are not especially superior in 
general intelligence may be very skillful in handling men. 

The importance of social intelligence in industry is clearly 
apparent. This trait should greatly outweigh other personal 
factors in the selection of men for managerial and executive 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


368 

positions. Many a man of the most unprepossessing personal 
appearance can direct or control large enterprises. Intelligence 
is much more important than mere appearance. Of course, the 
truly great executive possesses both general and social intelli¬ 
gence. If he does not, he must surround himself with persons 
possessing the type of ability which he lacks. The intellectual 
type of man can associate himself with some one who can con¬ 
trol men. On the other hand, the executive leader can secure 
the assistance of experts in the fields in which he needs advice. 

Very closely related to this type of ability is the manner 
and degree of adaptation of the individual to the social group. 
Some men always make themselves a part of any social group. 
If unable to act and think with the group, they conform to the 
standards of those with whom they are associated. “ When in 
Rome, do as the Romans do ” is the rule for any such man, 
who, though he tends to seek the group with which he is in 
sympathy, nevertheless is a conformist in whatever group he 
may find himself so far as it is at all possible. Such a person 
is the typical “ good mixer.” The opposite in type is not 
interested in people to the point of sharing in their joys and 
sorrows; he tends to withdraw from the group; he is an 
individualist. 

Social intelligence and social adaptation as described in the 
preceding paragraphs may seem, upon superficial examination, 
to be identical, but they are strikingly different. The socially 
intelligent individualist is likely to exploit his fellows in order 
to maintain his own individualism, which he values highly. 
The adaptable person, if he lacks social intelligence, may easily 
become the victim of the selfish, contriving individualist. Since 
the majority of persons are extreme in neither trait, it is more 
common to find social cooperation than exploitation. 

Professor Jung, an Austrian psychologist, has classified men 
as introverts and extroverts. The introvert is the reflective, 
self-centered type of individual. The extrovert is the ener- 


PERSONALITY 


369 


getic, active type and is interested in things outside himself. 
This is an important classification of differences between per¬ 
sons. While there is no inherent virtue in either introvertive 
or extrovertive tendencies, they tend to indicate two quite dif¬ 
ferent attitudes toward life. We expect the responses of the 
extrovert to be characteristically different from those of the 
introvert. The introvert is egoistic and judges things in rela¬ 
tion to himself; the extrovert is externally minded and is 
particularly suited to salesmanship. 

Extroversion, while somewhat related to sociability, is dif¬ 
ferent in many respects. Extroversion is essentially a matter 
of attitude while sociability is essentially a matter of behavior. 
Not all extroverts are sociable and not all introverts are un¬ 
sociable. The writer is well acquainted with a teacher who 
is extremely introvertive, yet she is unusually sociable. Her 
sociability is a compensation which she has made in order to 
adapt herself better to her station in life. While the extrovert 
is the typical salesman type, many an introvert makes a good 
salesman. He can do so by the same type of compensation 
mentioned above. To the introvert selling is an intellectual 
problem with few or no emotional appeals either to himself or 
to his customers. 

3. Aggressiveness. Another fundamental aspect of our re¬ 
lations toward others is the forcefulness with which we exert 
our ideas and wishes upon others. Some men dominate any 
social situation in which they are placed. We often say that 
such a person is strong willed. In contrast with such persons, 
some men are submissive, willing to be led. All reformers and 
politicians are aggressive. Alexander, Charlemagne, Robes¬ 
pierre, and Washington were aggressive. The same general 
characteristics hold true in the industrial world. We find the 
aggressive, dominating types in positions of authority; we find 
submissive types as research workers, inventors, experts in 
their various fields. The workman is likely to be submissive, 


370 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

whether naturally inclined to be so or not; if he is not, he is 
likely to be in trouble. Professional men may be either aggres¬ 
sive or submissive; more often they are neither one nor the 
other to any marked degree. 

Like most of the other traits of personality, there is no virtue 
in being especially aggressive or especially submissive. Mod¬ 
ern politics and industry give certain advantages to the aggres¬ 
sive individual, but this is probably a criticism of modern 
civilization. Many truly great and lovable men are meek 
rather than dominating. The lesson in the Beatitudes in re¬ 
gard to meekness is worth trying. Yet meekness does not 
mean unquestioned servitude. 

4. Emotionality. Another method of adjusting to one’s 
environment is through the emotions. One person is highly 
emotional — that is, easily agitated and very excitable; another 
is calm and deliberate in any situation. The highly emotional, 
and consequently unstable, individual is likely to lose control 
of himself when unusual or undesirable situations arise. Any 
normal person may be so affected when the strain becomes too 
great, but the highly emotional individual will succumb at the 
least provocation. Thus, the degree of emotionality which 
one develops may become a highly important factor in his 
personality. 

Excitability, when extreme, is a serious handicap in certain 
types of work. The excitable teacher is likely to be an in¬ 
efficient teacher; and the doctor and surgeon can least of all 
afford to be excitable. People who are in positions of great 
physical danger must be able to keep cool and calm. In some 
types of work an ordinary degree of excitability is not a handi¬ 
cap. Some very good executives are excitable and occasion¬ 
ally lose control of themselves. If this does not occur too 
often, it may prove no handicap and sometimes be a real 
advantage. There is a popular notion that the artist or the 
writer tends to be highly emotional and that such a state is 


PERSONALITY 


371 


conducive to the best work. There seems to be no experi¬ 
mental evidence to support, this theory. Perhaps, as some one 
has said, the idea has been generally accepted, and the artist 
or writer finds it a convenient reputation to sustain. 

5. Morality. The last of the personality traits to be dis¬ 
cussed is that of our relations to the traditions, customs, and 
ideals of the group. We here refer only to the social aspect 
of this trait and not to the broader ethical and religious phases 
of the problem of right and wrong. It is closely related to 
character. There are certain ideas of right and wrong which 
are held by the group to which we belong. Only so long as we 
adhere to these in our actions are we approved by our society; 
to be unconventional is to be ostracized. 

It is true that things which are approved in one generation 
may be disapproved in another. At one time it was not con¬ 
sidered wrong to steal from another tribe 1 ; and not so long 
ago slavery was accepted and approved by at least half of the 
so-called civilized world. It is also true that the same things 
may not be approved by different groups in the same age. 
A rather extreme example is the difference between the stand¬ 
ards of the Maffia gangs and those of the Boy Scouts. Despite 
these differences, there is a large group of customs, traditions, 
and ideals which are generally accepted by the great masses 
of society. Conformity to these standards constitutes morality 
in the sense in which we are using the term. 

Other Personality Traits. There are many other traits 
of personality which we have not mentioned here. The long 
lists of adjectives used in personal descriptions give clues 
to what some of these may be. Cooperative, ambitious, 
selfish, brave, cheerful, optimistic, honest, truthful, industrious, 
reliable, tactful, courageous, and persevering are a few such 

1 It is not to be inferred that such practices do not still go on. When 
disguised as “ nationalism ” they may be permitted and even sanctioned 
by the social group. 


372 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


terms. Some of these terms are similar to the traits men¬ 
tioned above; others are composed of two or more of these 
traits. As already stated, our list of five traits is not proposed 
as a complete list. Instead we have chosen these five as mu¬ 
tually exclusive and independently variable. Furthermore, it 
is believed that this list can be used to differentiate rather 
definitely one individual from another. 

Uses of Personality Analyses. There are three main pur¬ 
poses for which an analysis of personality may be used. It 
may be made the basis of (i) a person’s analysis of his own 
social qualities, (2) a personal evaluation of others, (3) the 
group opinion of the social qualities of any person or group 
of persons. 

The first two of these are individual in character and, like 
other introspective methods, are very difficult, if not impossi¬ 
ble, to evaluate statistically. Nevertheless they have a value 
which should not be belittled. Each of us should take stock 
of his social assets and liabilities at times. While one’s estimate 
of himself is a mere opinion and is subject to overrating on 
items which he considers favorable and to underrating on un¬ 
favorable traits, as Hollingworth 1 has shown, yet it at least 
recalls to his mind the elements which go to make up his per¬ 
sonality. By calling attention to these traits he may find 
reasons for a fairer evaluation of himself. Whenever he finds 
traits he desires to modify, he has made the first step necessary 
to a change. A man who decides that he wants to become 
more sociable can begin to mix with people. If people do 
not like him, he may find why they do not and set about to 
make himself more likeable. His first efforts in this direction 
may be feeble or even entirely unsuccessful, but generally, if 
he keeps at it, he will succeed in some degree. Other traits 
may also be changed. While facial expression is not easily 
modified, personal appearance, as we have already said, is so 
1 Hollingworth, H. L., Judging Human Character. Appleton, 1922. 


PERSONALITY 


373 


much dependent on dress, personal hygiene, and certain atti¬ 
tudes that for all practical purposes we may say that personal 
appearance can be changed. 

We may get the impression that a high ranking on each of 
the traits is desirable. This is not necessarily true. There is 
no inherent virtue in being sociable or aggressive. Most per¬ 
sons desire to present a good personal appearance, to be so¬ 
cially intelligent, and to be moral. In the sense in which we 
are using the term, however, the reformer often does not 
desire to be moral; he believes that his principles are above 
those of the group. Emotionality is objectionable when it is 
extreme, yet many, if not most persons, would scarcely wish 
to be thought cold and unfeeling. 

Another use that can be made of personality analyses is in 
our evaluation of others. We are continually forming opinions 
of others. These opinions, so long as they are individual, 
may not have much basis in fact; nevertheless, the opin¬ 
ion of a person in a position of responsibility is important 
both to the person holding the opinion and to the person 
evaluated. 

The analysis of personality into traits or elements makes 
possible and tends to compel a more exact basis of evaluation. 
There is too often the tendency to form a general opinion of a 
person, either favorable or unfavorable, and let that opinion 
dominate our whole attitude toward the person. An indi¬ 
vidual who is considered for some position may have some 
favorable traits and others less desirable. We should con¬ 
sider both and weigh the one against the other as a basis 
for our judgment of the person’s fitness in any line of 
endeavor. 

The whole program of educational and vocational guidance, 
as well as the selection and promotion of employees in indus¬ 
try, rests upon the analysis of personality. Scientific guidance 
awaits further progress in such analyses. Until such time 


374 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


arrives we must do the best we can in estimating what each 
person is best fitted to do. 

LIV. Methods of Measuring Personality 

Many attempts have been made to measure personality. In 
addition to older methods and to the really scientific attempts 
to solve this problem, there have been many short-cut meth¬ 
ods proposed. 

Pseudo-scientific Methods. One of the oldest attempts 
to measure personality is astrology. The ancients believed 
that the stars had something to do with the destiny of an in¬ 
dividual. They therefore made careful observations of the 
star under which a person was born. Modern knowledge of 
astronomy and biology should completely overthrow such doc¬ 
trines. Yet we find many persons consulting the almanac in 
order to foretell the future. At least one large radio station 
daily broadcasts a horoscope for those born on that day. 
Even some industrial organizations still use astrology as a 
method of selecting men. It hardly seems necessary to present 
arguments against astrology to the readers of this text. 

Other more modern methods which have been and still are 
being used in some places are phrenology and physiognomy. 
Physiognomy relates only to a study of the face, while phre¬ 
nology is concerned with the whole head; but the two methods 
are essentially the same. Each claims that personal qualities 
can be inferred from such features as the shape of the head or 
face. Phrenology was originally founded upon the idea that 
any functional part of the brain which was well developed 
would show this development by protuberances on the exterior 
of the skull. 

There is just enough basis of fact in this theory to make it 
plausible. There is some truth in the theory which gives 
specific localization to certain functions in definite parts of 


PERSONALITY 


375 


the brain. Certain parts of the brain, as pointed out in Chap¬ 
ter II, have control over certain bodily functions. Since these 
areas control these responses, why not infer that well-developed 
areas indicate exceptional ability? Large muscles indicate 
strength; why not infer that large brains indicate strong men¬ 
tal traits? The answers to these questions are not hard to 
find. 

The extreme difference between any functional part of the 
brain and the same area which is not functional is about one 
millimeter. For example, if the function of an area of one 
hemisphere is destroyed or if the part is congenitally defective, 
such an area is likely to be about one millimeter less in thick¬ 
ness than the corresponding area in the opposite hemisphere. 
Even if such a difference in thickness exists, no appreciable 
pressure would be exerted on the skull at the point of greater 
thickness because of the jellylike structure of the brain, and 
no bulge or protuberance would show on the outside of the 
head. Furthermore, there may be some protuberance on the 
outside with no corresponding enlargement on the inside. We 
can never be sure about what is on the inside of a skull by 
examining the outside. Many studies have been made com¬ 
paring the total size of the brain with mental ability. The 
results show clearly that either too large or too small a brain 
is likely to be indicative of a low degree of intelligence. 
Although there are many individual exceptions, more superior 
men have brains of average size, weighing about 1500 grams, 
than have either large or small brains. 

Near Scientific Methods. Recently some other theories have 
arisen of which one is based upon the endocrine glands. We 
know, for example, that the thyroid gland has a certain con¬ 
trol over the supply of fat in the body and the growth of hair 
and that it affects the rate of body metabolism. There are 
also some mental accompaniments of thyroid deficiency or ex¬ 
cess. Some of the other glands function in a similar manner. 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


376 

Why not infer, then, that from the physical form we can 
assume the presence or absence of the various endocrine se¬ 
cretions in different amounts? Then we can predict from 
these facts the mental traits which the presence of these 
secretions in larger or smaller amounts will produce. 

Dr. Louis Berman 1 has advocated such a point of view. 
After describing the principal endocrine glands and their func¬ 
tions, he analyzes typical personalities caused by excess or 
deficiency of the various endocrine gland secretions. Berman 
cites certain cases from history (such as Napoleon) who, he 
contends, must have been what they were because of their 
endocrine secretions. Convincing as some of these discus¬ 
sions are, we should be very critical of any extravagant claims 
for endocrinological explanations of personality traits. 

Dr. Kretchmer, 2 a German psychologist, has described three 
physical types: the asthenic, the athletic, and the pyknic. 
Each of these types he describes in great detail, attempting 
to show the correlation between the physical and mental traits. 
He even goes so far as to name the prevailing types of in¬ 
sanity to which each type is predisposed. 

A most convincing argument against any of the pseudo¬ 
scientific methods is based upon a study conducted by Pro¬ 
fessors F. B. Knight and U. V. Cleeton, and upon another by 
Professor William Sheldon, in which they made careful an¬ 
thropometric measurements of a large group of fraternity men 
and compared their results with the estimates the fraternity 
men made of each other. The experimenters found no rela¬ 
tionship between these estimates and any of the physiognomic 
systems studied. 

Because of these and other scientific studies, reputable 
psychologists are convinced that physical form, other than 
that resulting from dissipation and the like, can give us little 

1 Berman, L. M., Glands Regulating Personality. Macmillan, 1928. 

2 Kretchmer, E., Physique and Character. Harcourt Brace, 1925. 


PERSONALITY 


377 


or no indication of the accompanying personality traits. We 
must look to some other method for the analysis of character. 

Rating Methods. Rating is a method of measuring person¬ 
ality traits which has been more or less successful. The gen¬ 
eral principles of rating were discussed in the preceding chap¬ 
ter. It was pointed out that, in order to be successful, there 
should be at least three independent raters. Each must know 
how to rate, and each must be familiar with the traits to be 
rated and with the individuals they are to rate. Another 
precaution which must be observed in the rating of personality 
traits relates to the choice of traits to be rated. Too often 
ratings have been made upon unimportant or ambiguous traits. 
The traits to be rated must be well defined and mutually ex¬ 
clusive. Various methods of rating have been used. These 
vary all the way from a series of questions which permit the 
rater to use his own terminology in answering them to tests com¬ 
posed of questions on personality characteristics. Methods 
like the first are subjective and the results are likely to vary 
greatly with the raters. More recently graphic methods of 
rating have been used. Figure 57 is an illustration of such 
a graphic rating scale. 

Another method which may be classed either as a rating 
method or a test consists of a series of questions with a graded 
series of answers to each. The person taking the test is di¬ 
rected to check the best answer to each of the questions. 
Standard scores are worked out for each question. 

As we have said, such methods are often called tests. The 
line of demarcation between a rating method and a test is not 
clear. Rating methods may use test questions and tests may 
use rating methods for securing responses. 

Objective Tests of Personality. There is another method 
of measuring personality which has received much attention 
within the last few years. We refer to the use of standardized 
tests. The first personality trait to be measured by tests was 


Rating Scale of Furtherance-Hindrance Factors Affecting Scholastic 

Achievement by D. T. Howard 

Indicate your rating in each factor by placing a check on the line where you think it ought to be 



% 















Fig. 57. An Example of a Graphic Rating Scale 

















GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


380 

intelligence. While we have made a distinction between intel¬ 
ligence as a factor in personality and as the ability to meet and 
solve life’s situations, the two are closely related. Therefore, 
the results of any test which measures one are indicative of the 
other. Yet there is probably the need of a test which measures 
exclusively the social phases of intelligence. 

Since the development of intelligence tests, the technique 
used in their construction has been extended to many other 
personality traits. We now have tests for everything from 
personal beauty to morality. Indeed the number of tests is so 
large that even a list of them makes a rather extensive mono¬ 
graph. It is difficult to classify these tests. Many of them do 
not fit into the classification given in the earlier part of this 
chapter, nor into any other classification. Nevertheless we 
shall give examples of a few tests illustrating the measurement 
of some of these traits. 

1. Introversion-Extroversion. Many tests have been con¬ 
structed for measuring introversion and extroversion. Prob¬ 
ably the best known of these is the Colgate Mental Hygiene 
test constructed by Professor Donald Laird. This test consists 
in checking answers, on a graphic rating scale similar to that 
illustrated in Figure 57, to about fifty questions, such as: How 
have possible misfortunes entered into your work? How have 
you considered the feelings of others? How have you acted 
and felt in social affairs? In social conversations how have you 
been? 

The Neyman-Kohlstedt and the Northwestern University 
introversion-extroversion tests were constructed upon the idea 
that extreme introversion is to be found in dementia praecox 
patients and extreme extroversion in manic depressive patients. 
Although the principle upon which these tests were first con¬ 
structed may be correct, it has been found that insane patients 
answer the questions of a test so differently from one time to 
another that the reliability of any test of his kind is very low. 


PERSONALITY 


38i 


Furthermore some studies by the writer and others have shown 
that there is not much consistency between the concepts held 
by psychiatrists as to what constitutes introversion and extro¬ 
version and the results obtained by the use of any of the pres¬ 
ent tests of these tendencies. While this does not mean that 
introversion and extroversion cannot be measured, it indicates 
that we must await some further study before any very suc¬ 
cessful test will be available. 

2. Emotionality. The first well-known test of this trait was 
constructed by Professor Sydney Pressey of Ohio State Uni¬ 
versity. His tests are called the X -0 tests. There are four 
parts to the test. Each part contains lists of words which stand 
for things which are unpleasant, things for which a person may 
be blamed, or about which a person has felt worried or nervous. 
The score is the number of words crossed out. A sample of 
Part 1 of this test is given here: 

Sample Items from the Pressey X -0 Tests 
(Used by permission of C. H. Stoelting & Co., Chicago.) 

Test I 

Read over the twenty-five lists of words on the page below and 
cross out every word whose meaning is unpleasant to you — every 
word which you do not like. You may cross out as many or as 
few words as you wish; but be sure to cross out everything that is 
unpleasant. 

1. disgust fear sex suspicion aunt. 

2. roar divorce dislike sidewalk wiggle. 

3. naked snicker wonder spit fight. 

4. failure home rotting snake hug. 

More recently Professor Thurstone of the University of Chi¬ 
cago has constructed what seems to be a much better test of 
emotionality. It contains a large number of items which are 
to be answered by “ yes ” or “ no.” These items refer to in¬ 
timate things in the life of the person, such as home relations, 


382 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


attitudes toward other persons and principles. Thurstone has 
determined “ normal ” answers to all these questions, and a 
person’s score is the number of answers that are not normal. 
Out of 223 questions not more than about ten per cent of one 
freshman class at the University of Chicago checked more than 
100 items different from the normal answers. 

3. Aggressiveness. There are two rather well known tests 
of aggressiveness or assertiveness. The older is the Moore- 
Gilliland test which consists of five parts. The first two parts 
are measures of the effect of distraction in addition caused by 
staring at the experimenter during the test. Both relative rate 
of adding and the number of eye movements are counted. The 
third part of the test compares the rate of writing at a normal 
speed with writing at the most rapid rate. The theory upon 
which these tests are constructed is that the aggressive person 
is less affected by distractions and writes at high speed while 
the submissive person is susceptible to distraction. The fourth 
and fifth parts of the test are concerned with the time required 
and the kinds of associations made to the stimulus words, “ en¬ 
terprise, company, success, danger, and death.” One serious 
difficulty with this test is that it is hard to give and must be 
given to only one person at a time. 

More recently the two Professors Allport have constructed an 
Ascendance-Submission test. It is a group test and is easily 
given and scored. It consists of a series of questions about 
personal attitudes toward people and property. A sample 
question is: Do you seek to meet the important person at a 
social event? Usually. .. .Occasionally. .. .Never. This test 
has been found to have a rather high validity and reliability. 
It does not agree in results with the Moore-Gilliland test. As 
yet it has not been determined which test is the better measure 
of what is generally known as aggressiveness. 

4. Ideals and Morals. Voelker was one of the first to con¬ 
struct a test of ideals. His test consisted of several parts. A 


PERSONALITY 


383 


typical problem requires the subject, with eyes closed, to make 
crosses in a series of circles placed irregularly on a sheet of 
paper. It is impossible to make a high score on this problem 
without peeking. In another part, problems in arithmetic are 
to be solved. Answers are afterward shown and the subject is 
given a chance to cheat by changing his answers. A sheet of 
paraffined paper placed underneath the first sheet shows any 
changes which are made. May and Hartshorn have improved 
and extended these tests. While their study has thrown much 
light upon the problem of deceit, their tests are not very prac¬ 
tical for general use. 

5. Attitudes. Thurstone has constructed a series of attitude 
tests. Attitudes differ from personality traits in that they are 
not so broad or inclusive and possibly more transient. Some 
of the attitudes for which tests have been constructed are pro¬ 
hibition, the Negro, movies, war, the Constitution, God, and 
the Chinese. The method of constructing such tests is com¬ 
plicated but the tests themselves are simple. They consist of 
a series of questions on the attitude being studied. These 
questions give a chance for the expression of any attitude from 
one extreme to another. The questions are given weighted 
scores and the median score of the questions u double checked 
gives a person’s attitude on the question studied. It is possible 
to measure the attitude either of individuals or of groups. It 
is also possible to study changes in attitudes, as for example 
the effect of a moving picture opposing war on the attitude of 
those viewing the picture. Such tests have both theoretical 
and practical value. 

6. Test batteries. Bernreuter has constructed a test contain¬ 
ing 125 items. The test can be scored in four different ways. 
By scoring it one way it is considered a measure of introversion- 
extroversion; another scoring gives a dominance-submission 
score, another a measure of neurotic tendencies, and another 
a measure of self-sufficiency. While, if successful, such a test 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


384 

would have more value than any single test, there is consider¬ 
able evidence that the test has certain serious limitations. It 
is doubtful whether any single series of questions can give re¬ 
liable information on so many separate traits. 

Vernon and Allport, basing their test upon the theory of 
traits of Eduard Spranger, a German psychologist, have con¬ 
structed a test of Values. Six different values are studied. They 
are (1) Theoretical, (2) Economic, (3) ^Esthetic, (4) Social, 
(5) Political, and (6) Religious. The test follows Spranger’s 
theory that a person who is high in one or more of these values 
is necessarily low in certain others. Any person’s total values 
is always 100. The test attempts to determine how these val¬ 
ues are distributed in an individual. This test seems to possess 
considerable importance in an evaluation of this aspect of the 
self. 

Evaluation of Personality Tests. What value can come 
from the use of such tests as these? Let us admit at the begin¬ 
ning that most of the tests here listed have little practical use. 
They are to be treated as experiments in test construction rather 
than as finished tests. Much more work must be done before 
we can delineate personality in terms of such tests. They are 
in much the same state as the early intelligence tests before the 
construction of the Binet tests. When comparable work is ex¬ 
pended upon these types of personality tests, it seems likely that 
they will have as much validity and reliability as intelligence 
tests now have. 

There has been a certain amount of skepticism even re¬ 
garding intelligence tests. This is largely because too much 
has been expected of them. Even social intelligence is only 
one factor in personality. Other factors enter to counteract 
or to reenforce intelligence. When we are able to measure 
these other factors and evaluate them, we shall have a scien¬ 
tific approach to the problems of personality. Let us repeat 
that several problems remain to be solved before this is possi- 


PERSONALITY 


385 

ble. Furthermore few of the existing tests of personality have 
proved themselves of general usefulness. Nevertheless they 
represent a movement in the right direction. They point the 
way to progress in the measurement of personality. 

Personality Tests in Vocational Guidance. In this and the 
preceding chapters we have referred to the general principles 
of vocational guidance and selection. In the preceding chap¬ 
ter we considered the use of intelligence tests in both guidance 
and selection. As pointed out there, intelligence tests can be 
used to considerable advantage, especially in guidance and the 
higher grades of employment. In addition to intelligence tests 
there are other prognostic tests as well as certain vocational 
tests which may aid in vocational guidance and selection. 
Since personality characteristics are important in success or 
failure in life, the personality traits of a child must be taken 
into account in any system of guidance. The student, his 
parents, and his teachers must consider his various abilities as 
shown by school records and tests, as well as his interest, and 
use these as aids in the selection of the type of work in which he 
is most likely to succeed. The final selection should be made 
only after carefully weighing all these factors. 

In any selective process industry must be concerned with 
the personality of the employee. In the light of the present 
tendency we have considerable assurance that at least a few 
tests of value, other than those of intelligence, will be devised 
in this field in the future. In the meantime we must be con¬ 
tent to make as careful an estimate as possible of the traits 
which are demanded in any occupation. This estimate should 
be followed by a study of the prospective employee, using all 
the objective data available in the endeavor to determine 
whether he possesses the requisite ability and interests or 
whether he can be trained so that he will possess them to a 
satisfactory degree. The same general methods, together with 
the records of achievement, can be used in considering an 


386 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


employee for promotion. No simple formula can be estab¬ 
lished to solve this difficult problem. 

Selected References 

Allport, F. H., Social Psychology. Houghton Mifflin, 1924. 
Bagby, English, Psychology of Personality. Holt, 1928. 
Dashiell, J. F., Foundations of Objective Psychology, Chapter 
XVIII. Houghton Mifflin, 1928. 

Woodworth, R. S., Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter XIII. Holt, 
1934 . 


CHAPTER XIII 


SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 

LV. Universality and Significance of Social 
Behavior 

Wherever organisms must live in proximity, they must ad¬ 
just to the stimuli which such a situation produces. Even in 
lower animals social behavior is sometimes very complex, but 
in creatures as complex as man, living is a social order which 
becomes more and more intricate as time goes on because 
social responses form an increasing proportion of the adjust¬ 
ments made. Life would be relatively simple were it not for 
other people. 

Orientation. In the earlier chapters of this text we dis¬ 
cussed stimuli and responses of the sort that are largely un¬ 
affected by social relations. In some of the later chapters 
social influences have played a large part in our discussion. In 
the chapter on mental alertness it was pointed out that intelli¬ 
gent behavior is dependent upon the effects of social contacts 
between the child and his parents, teachers, and others. Per¬ 
sonality, although probably dependent upon some inherent 
bases, is largely a matter of our relations to other people. 
In this chapter we shall consider the origins of social be¬ 
havior, the way in which it develops, and its significance in 
life. 

Importance of Social Behavior. If it were possible to 
specify all the causal factors in human conduct and to assign 
them relative values, it is quite likely that the highest values 
would be given to those elements which are dependent upon our 
relations with other people. Social influence may be of a very 

387 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


388 

vague sort, as when we are observed by others even if we are 
not acquainted with them; or social influence may be very 
specific in form, as when we are in the company of a particular 
person whom we love or hate. 

Social Reactions Are Learned. Social behavior, at first 
thought, may seem to present some new factors or elements 
other than those found in non-social behavior. It is true that 
social factors make behavior more complex and possibly less 
predictable, but there is no mysterious power or force present 
that does not exist in other forms of behavior. 

In the usual objective non-social situation there tends to 
be a relation, although not a perfect one, between the strength 
and kind of the stimulus and the strength and kind of re¬ 
sponse. For example, if we are walking up a hill, we adjust 
our steps to the steepness of the hill. The steeper the hill, the 
more adjustment we must make in our walking. If we hear 
a sound, the type of our response tends to be tempered to the 
loudness of the sound. When it gets above a certain intensity, 
we are likely to withdraw or protect ourselves from it. The 
louder the sound, the stronger our response tends to be. 
Learning and previous experience play a part in such reactions, 
but they play an increasingly important role as these stimuli 
take on social significance. 

In social behavior experience is a great factor. The type 
rather than the strength of the stimulus is the important ele¬ 
ment. For example, the amount of energy required to say, 
“ I like that dress very much ” and “ I think you have made 
a poor choice ” is about the same; but the social significance 
of the two remarks will be quite different. 

To emphasize further the factor of experience in social reac¬ 
tions, we need only mention that if the above statements were 
made to a person who did not understand English, and if they 
were spoken in the same tone of voice, they would not be likely 
to evoke different kinds of responses. 


SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 


389 


The author knew a young man who enlisted in the Spanish- 
American War, was sent to Cuba, and was stationed in a home 
where Spanish was the only language known. This man knew 
no Spanish and with difficulty was making himself understood. 
One day while seated by himself in a room, a cat chanced to 
cross the floor. The man’s first thought was, “ Well, here at 
last is something that will understand me,” and he began to 
call “ kitty, kitty,” but the cat made not the slightest re¬ 
sponse. The cat also understood only Spanish. It did not 
respond to “ kitty ”; it was a “ gatito” 

Social Cooperation among the Lower Animals. We find 
many examples of social cooperation in the lower animals. In 
such animals as bees and ants the principle of cooperation is 
highly developed. The bees in a hive have an elaborate division 
of labor. Some gather honey, some carry water, others care for 
the queen, while others act as a standing army, always ready to 
defend the hive. Here we have an excellent example of a di¬ 
vision of labor with consequent interdependence between the 
different groups. 

Many of the higher animals also are gregarious. Many 
birds migrate in flocks. In the case of wild ducks and wild 
geese there is great social cooperation. Just how they organize 
in their characteristic way for flight is not known, but it is 
clear that, as they move in line formation, there must be an 
adaptation of each bird to the group in order to preserve the 
formation. 

Many animals, like wolves and dogs, hunt in packs. When 
the chase is on, the baying of one dog acts as a cue to the 
others. In this way the pack is guided. As a result of such co¬ 
operation more food is obtained than by separate endeavor. 

We should note at this point that social behavior differs 
from other types of behavior only in that either the stimulus 
comes from another animal of the same or similar type, or the 
response affects an animal of the same or similar type. Slight 


39 o GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

movements of a bird in flight cause a change in the flight of 
other birds. A certain call of a mother brings the young to 
food. The movements and the call are social stimuli. The 
response of the birds and the response of the young are social 
responses. 

There is one further characteristic of social behavior. It is 
predominantly reciprocal in character. One social response 
is likely to become a stimulus to a second social response. 
When a dog barks at or bites a bone, the bone does not di¬ 
rectly react upon the dog. But if a dog barks at or bites 
another dog, the second dog is likely to bark or bite in return. 
This response of the second dog in turn becomes an added 
stimulus to the first dog. This reciprocal character of social 
behavior is very important and will receive further considera¬ 
tion in a later part of the chapter. 

First Social Reactions of Infants. Man is predominantly 
social. The child from birth is very helpless and is cared 
for by parent or nurse. Because of this dependence, and 
because of his capacity to learn, the child soon forms habits of 
producing social stimuli and of reacting to social stimuli. The 
child soon learns the significance of crying. His first cries 
are probably purely reflexive, but he soon forms the connec¬ 
tion between a cry and the coming of the mother or nurse. 
As he grows older, he learns the value of other kinds of 
stimuli. Laughs, babbles, upraised arms, scratching, pulling 
hair, tearing papers — all have social significance. 

He also learns to respond to the stimuli received from others. 
If mother speaks in harsh tones, he withdraws. If she caresses, 
he babbles and returns the caresses. Frowns and laughter, 
attention and neglect all have their place with him as controlling 
factors in his behavior. 


SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 


39 i 


LVI. Influence of Learning upon Social Behavior 

Through the mechanism of conditioned reaction the child 
learns to respond effectively to relatively simple social situa¬ 
tions. As he matures, he sees greater and greater significance 
in social situations, and at the same time adopts more and 
more clever ways of responding to the persons about him. 

Social Reactions Learned in Infancy. Some early writers 
ascribed the influence of others upon our conduct to the opera¬ 
tion of an instinct of sociability. If such an instinct exists, 
it operates in a very vague and crude way at birth, and the 
specific reactions to others are dependent upon the specific 
experiences of each person with others. That is to say, the 
reactions we make to others are simply a form of conditioned 
reaction which is developed in the same manner as any con¬ 
ditioned reaction. The infant is hungry and is satisfied 
through the ministrations of the mother or nurse. The pres¬ 
ence of the mother or nurse subsequently produces the same 
pleasurable reaction without the actual giving of food that the 
satiation of hunger did. This is the familiar mechanism of 
the conditioned reflex and can be used to explain all our reac¬ 
tions to others. 

If some painful situation is always experienced in connec¬ 
tion with a certain person or persons, in like manner the child 
becomes conditioned to dislike those who are present in such 
experiences. 

Much Social Learning Is Unintentional Learning. Fur¬ 
thermore, this conditioning process in the child is not a thing 
that is always produced by the conscious intention of the 
adult involved. Very often the adult is planning to accomplish 
one end in his contact with the child, while the child may be 
responding in a manner which relates to some other end. 
A good illustration of this type of situation can easily be ob¬ 
served in the development of feeding-problems in children. 


392 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


A mother with a child who is slightly underweight consults a 
physician and is told that she must feed the child certain 
foods to bring him to normal weight. Because she is very 
much worried over the situation, she undertakes to, carry out 
the orders of the physician to the letter. Her conscious aim is 
to provide nourishment for the child. The dominant note in 
the whole situation is her worried attitude as she feeds him. 
The child reacts to this anxiety, and the feeding situation be¬ 
comes invested with a dislike because of the mother’s emo¬ 
tion. He learns to dislike the food that the mother is so 
anxious for him to eat. Her anxiety overshadows the pleasant 
taste of the food and he hates it. That such a theory is not 
mere fiction has been demonstrated by experiment. One can 
change the attitude of a tiny baby toward his bottle by the 
tone of voice and emotional expression that one uses in giving 
it to the child. If this can be accomplished in so simple a 
situation, we can readily see how in more complex situations 
the influence of human reactions can become very important. 

In social learning, as in other experiences, the individual 
soon begins to generalize. If a person with big glasses fright¬ 
ens a child, big glasses may become a perceptual cue for un¬ 
desirable persons and he subsequently reacts negatively to 
anyone wearing big glasses. Many of our reactions to other 
persons are based upon just such silly causes as this. Such 
responses appear silly, but they are perfectly sensible when 
we consider how they become organized. They are just as 
sensible as is the flow of saliva in the dog’s mouth when he 
hears the bell ring after he has experienced the bell and the 
meat together. (See page 77.) 

Emotions in Social Behavior. The emotional reactions of 
others are without doubt the ones which influence us most. 
If an act of ours produces anger or sorrow in others, we tend 
to refrain from repeating this act. If they show joy or amuse¬ 
ment we tend to continue it. We recognize this principle in 


SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 


393 


the conduct of children. The child is an inveterate “ show- 
off ” if he is encouraged by the laughs of his auditors; or he 
can become very shy if he is frightened by visitors or by the 
scoldings of his mother because of his crude conduct in the 
presence of company. 

As the child grows older the wealth of these stimuli and 
his responses grow. The child learns to ask favors of father 
when the latter talks and has a happy face. He finds that 
after a good meal is a better time than before a meal to present 
his request. The growing son knows when to ask for permis¬ 
sion to go out at night and when it is better to go without 
asking. He also learns when it is worse than useless to ask. 
Sister lays her plans well before she asks for the new dress or 
coat, or permission to bring company home. At times, or with 
some parents, kindness works best, but sometimes crying, 
whining, complaining, teasing, or a tantrum is most effective. 
Here we get a hint as to how dispositions are developed. 

In more involved conduct the emotional reactions of other 
persons are probably the most dominant motivating force. The 
child, even though he knows nothing of the principles involved, 
refrains from doing certain things because experience has 
taught him that some adult may become angry. For example, 
a little boy came home from school one day and told his father 
he had said an “ awful bad word ” in school. He said the 
teacher got so cross that he knew it was “ awful bad ” and 
he would not say it again. After a lot of persuasion he was 
induced to whisper the word to his father. It was: “ I don’t 
care.” The boy, having done something which vexed his 
teacher, had mistaken the cause of her attitude, attributing it 
to the expression he used. This illustrates how easily erroneous 
ideas can become fixed in the child’s experiences. 

Careful analysis will usually show that all conduct, even 
the most intricate and that which can be explained in terms 
of moral precepts, in the last analysis has this sort of develop- 


394 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

mental history. It is largely conditioned by our specific experi¬ 
ences with human beings. 

Learning of General Social Attitudes. In a general sense 
a person’s experiences with other human beings may have been 
of a sort to condition him positively. If the majority of his 
experiences have been happy ones, he will tend to seek out the 
company of others in order to reproduce such pleasurable situa¬ 
tions. If, on the other hand, he has been unfortunate in his 
social contacts, he may shun company to avoid future unpleas¬ 
ant situations. 

In addition to the specific conditioning which determines 
our conduct there is a general social motivation which should 
be mentioned. It is the sort of thing which comes not through 
the influence of any specific acquaintances, but is our reaction 
to people in general. 

We tend to avoid the expression of too much interest or 
disapproval on the part of people in general. To have others 
look at us with raised eyebrows, or to be given a cold stare 
is more than some persons can bear. They will do almost 
anything to avoid such treatment. 

Some Typical Social Reactions. The ways in which con¬ 
duct may be used to influence others are so complex that we 
cannot hope to analyze or enumerate them all. A few typical 
instances will serve to illustrate the principles involved. 

Direct criticism either by word or look may have one of 
two effects. It may cause (a) chagrin and either a cessation 
of the activity or flight from the situation which produced 
the criticism, or (b) an antagonistic reaction against the per¬ 
son or persons giving the criticism. In other words, the in¬ 
dividual who is criticized will be chagrined or will compensate 
and show directly or indirectly that the criticism was unde¬ 
served. 

If some one acts with too great dignity in our presence, we 
revere him, or resent his airs and feel inferior, or try to 




SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 


395 


demonstrate that his dignity is unwarranted. All personal 
comparisons are odious, and when a person accentuates any 
differences between ourselves and him, we resent it. 

Sometimes if some one does us a favor, the result is not the 
expected one of love for the person giving the gift, but of 
resentment that we have been placed under obligation to him. 
The influence of such conduct is based not so much on the 
outward act as on our interpretation of the attitude which 
prompted it. 

These various illustrations of the complexity of social in¬ 
fluence could be multiplied indefinitely. There is one general 
principle which underlies them all; namely, we tend to act 
positively toward and to like those who make us feel better, 
nobler, more intelligent, or more efficient. We tend to act 
negatively toward those who make us feel unhappy, ignoble, 
ignorant, or inefficient. 

Abbreviated Social Reactions. As experience in the per¬ 
ception of social stimulation increases, short cuts and abbre¬ 
viations come to take the place of total reactions. A dog 
gnawing a bone does not leave the bone to attack an intruder. 
A growl is sufficient if the second dog has had some unsuc¬ 
cessful experiences in such situations. Professor Woodworth 
characteristically describes these as a kind of preparatory 
response. He says, “ It frightens the enemy away and saves 
the bother of actually attacking ‘ small fry.’ ” 

These abbreviated responses come to play a larger and 
larger part in the life of the child. He learns both to under¬ 
stand this type of stimuli and to use it as a means of con¬ 
trolling others. The wink, for example, has taken on an im¬ 
portant social significance. Professor McDougall explains 
the evolution of a sneer from a complex response of disgust. 
Disgust at one time was generally expressed toward objects 
which had a bad odor. The muscles which expand and raise 
the nostrils were contracted to exclude bad odors from the 


396 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


organs of smell. The head was turned, and even the raising 
of the hands was sometimes added to shove the obnoxious 
substance away. These were satisfactory direct responses to 
the situation. In civilized societies this response has little 
explicit use, but a remnant of it remains in the significant 
facial movements sometimes accompanied by the turning of the 
head and a gesture of the hands, palms outward. This account 
may be a bit fantastical, but it illustrates a principle which is 
probably sound. 


LVII. The Function of Symbolism in Social 
Behavior 

The most important means of social communication is lan¬ 
guage. Language began with gesturing, was continued in 
vocal expression, and finally developed into written language. 

A child born into a civilized environment falls heir to the 
language of his ancestors, and merely has to learn the sym¬ 
bols which have been evolved and standardized. 

Symbolic Responses. Now let us consider the whole prob¬ 
lem of symbolic stimuli and symbolic responses. We find 
these reactions, as has already been mentioned, in the lower 
animals. In general the higher we go in the animal scale, the 
more use we find made of this type of response. In man it 
reaches its highest development. Man’s superiority over the 
lower animals is almost completely to be explained on the 
ground that he makes so much wider use of symbolism. How 
man developed this ability has not been answered satisfac¬ 
torily. 

Whatever the origin, man’s advantage can be explained 
largely upon the basis of his social inheritance of customs, 
traditions, habits, skills, and language, both written and 
spoken. It is interesting to conjecture what would happen 
if man were suddenly and completely bereft of all this social 


SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 


397 


heritage. Would he rapidly develop a new heritage, including 
language, and regain his place in the animal kingdom, or would 
he drop to the level of the beasts? Because of his great intel¬ 
lectual powers, he would probably develop a language; but 
certainly the process would be slow and laborious. In his 
racial development language was a slow acquisition and its 
redevelopment would no doubt be slow. 

Let us now trace the significant steps leading up to the 
origin of language and some of the significant facts in its use. 

Gesture. Gesture represents an earlier, simpler form of 
social communication. It is a form of behavior one individual 
makes for the purpose of indirectly controlling the conduct of 
another. By indirectly, we mean that the control is not by 
direct physical contact, but rather by reference to some ex¬ 
perience common to both the persons concerned. In the case 
of the growl of the dog to which we have already referred, the 
first dog did not directly attack the second dog, but attempted 
to control his behavior by reference to some experience com¬ 
mon to both. 

Of course when first used the significance of the gesture 
is not likely to be appreciated by the one who makes the ges¬ 
ture. In the example just cited the first time the dog growled 
under such circumstances it was probably only a preparatory 
response to a proposed attack. The growl was probably 
used several times before its social significance became appar¬ 
ent. Indeed, there is considerable question as to just how well 
the dog ever understands the social significance of his acts. 
The second dog must also understand the significance of the 
gesture. If he does not, the attack must become overt. This 
illustration shows the necessary cooperative features in gesture. 

Gesture begins very early in the life of the child. His first 
movements are overt. But soon these overt movements are 
abbreviated and become symbolic. The child first moves his 
head from side to side to avoid food after he has had as much 


398 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


as he wants, or to avoid other things he does not want. From 
this movement develops the side-to-side movement of the 
head to denote negation. Similarly the up-and-down move¬ 
ment of the head, which is a characteristic movement of the 
child in taking food, becomes the basis for the nod of affirma¬ 
tion. 

Other gestures develop quickly. The child soon learns to 
wave his hands, to “ patty-cake,” to show “ so big,” and to 
make many more such movements. In many cases adults 
make use of gestures. In addition to the normal use made 
by any adult in speaking, we have the special cases of this 
method of communication between people who do not speak the 
same language. It is possible to carry on quite an extended 
conversation in this way. Travelers in foreign countries have 
little trouble in expressing their needs. The Indians made 
extensive use of gestures. The deaf are compelled to make 
much use of signs and gestures. Their gestures become both 
elaborated as to amount of use made of them and simplified 
as to form. They evolve methods of expressing complicated 
as well as abstract ideas by gestures. The manual alphabet 
is the further elaboration of these methods. 

Wigwagging and other army methods of signaling are further 
types of gestures which have become highly conventionalized. 
Such methods of communication depend upon the use of a 
carefully constructed and well-prepared code known to both 
the sender and the receiver. 

Language. There are, however, several limitations to all 
manual forms of communication: (i) Such communication 
can only be carried on when the receiver is looking. It does 
not provide a method of gaining attention. ( 2 ) It cannot be 
carried on effectively in the dark or when the parties to the 
conversation are not in sight of each other. ( 3 ) It cannot 
be carried on when either the sender or the receiver is engaged 
in any other type of work requiring attention. If the sender’s 


SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 


399 


hands are occupied at other work, he cannot gesture. (4) 
The range and variety of expression probably has more limita¬ 
tion in gesture than in vocalization. 

The Development of Language. We do not know how 
language originated. Many theories have been proposed, many 
of which, no doubt, contain considerable truth. But no one 
explanation is complete; language developed from many 
sources and in many ways. It evidently required many gen¬ 
erations to develop a language. In fact all living languages 
are continuously in process of change and elaboration. Differ¬ 
ent peoples have evolved their languages more or less inde¬ 
pendently. Therefore we have not one but many languages. 

One interesting thing about the development of any lan¬ 
guage is the orderliness with which it proceeds. All except 
a few very modern and artificial languages were constructed 
and perfected before the grammar of the language was written. 
The unusual fact about the whole process is that there could be 
a system superimposed setting forth general laws and rules of 
grammar. While the grammar differs for different languages, 
there are rules and laws governing all languages. We can only 
marvel at the great complexity and withal the great uniformity 
in structure. Inflections indicating parts of speech, person, 
case, mood, and tense were all evolved probably before their 
significance was appreciated. Only after the first grammar was 
written was it possible to see all these forms in all their re¬ 
lationships. 

We have already pointed out several of the advantages of 
language. It is a more flexible and versatile form of communi¬ 
cation than any other. It is through language that man ac¬ 
cumulates culture from generation to generation. Language 
can also be used to indicate things not immediately present to 
the senses. That is, it forms a basis for man to deal with the 
future in terms of past experience. It also constitutes a means 
for dealing with many qualitative relations, abstract ideas, and 


400 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


generalizations. It is difficult to express white or goodness by 
gesture. How could by, yet, or almost any other adverb or 
preposition be expressed except in language? Language was 
without doubt man’s greatest single step in progress. 

The construction of written or printed symbols to indicate 
words and meanings was a difficult and important step which 
followed the development of spoken language. Written lan¬ 
guage is the method of conserving what has been evolved in 
spoken language. After its development has reached a certain 
stage, written language furnishes a method for the derivation 
of new materials and ideas. By means of new combinations, 
new results follow. 

Several steps must have been involved in the development 
of a written language. First, no doubt, printed symbols stood 
for spoken words or ideas. Later an alphabet was devised. 
This made it possible to standardize a few symbols to repre¬ 
sent many words. The old Chinese language is one that has 
never arrived at this later stage. There is a separate character 
for each word. 

The Childs Language. Thus far we have been consider¬ 
ing the way in which civilization developed language. Let us 
now consider how a child learns a language. The child is born 
into a home where some language is already in use. Instead of 
having to work out a language for himself, the child must learn 
the language of his associates. If he lives in France, he learns 
to speak and write French. If he lives in the United States, 
in most sections of the country he will learn English. 

In the beginning the child makes many vocalizations. Some 
of these seem to be only a form of random movement. Others 
are expressions of feelings and emotions, such as pleasure, joy, 
unpleasantness, sorrow, and anger. These vocalizations be¬ 
come fixed through practice. A point upon which psycholo¬ 
gists are not agreed is whether the child may imitate new 
sounds after hearing them produced by others. At least after 


SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 


401 


the sound has been produced, it is only a matter of association 
for the child to connect names of objects with the objects them¬ 
selves. Other forms of speech are learned by following the 
usage of other persons. The second and third years of a child’s 
life are occupied with this learning process. Through random 
vocalization, trial and error, corrections, and example the 
child gradually learns how to make his wants and thoughts 
known. Indeed, as was pointed out in Chapter IX, thinking 
is largely, if not completely, a matter of inner language. 
Some one has described thinking as a method of signaling to 
oneself. 

Music and Art as Forms of Symbolism. Language tends 
to be a form of specific symbolism. Music is a form of non¬ 
specific symbolism. There is in the composer’s mind a general 
emotion to be expressed. The performer and the hearer may 
get different emotions from those of the composer; neverthe¬ 
less they get some response or the music is meaningless. Art 
is another method of expressing general ideas or emotions. The 
ideas of the sculptor or painter may be more apparent than 
those of the composer, yet they are general rather than specific. 
They are forms of a universal symbolism. 


LVIII. Social Behavior as Expressed in Organiza¬ 
tions and Institutions 

Social influences affect the individual in relation to his 
fellows. It is the development of this relation that we have 
been considering thus far in this chapter. These social, rela¬ 
tions also express themselves in another way; namely, in or¬ 
ganizations and institutions. The home, the church, the 
state, and the school are institutions which are a direct out¬ 
growth of social relations. Custom, tradition, and public 
opinion are other forms of group control, but they are ex¬ 
pressed in a number of different ways rather than through any 
single institution. 


402 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


Universality of Social Institutions. One drive, or at most, 
a few fundamental drives, forms the basis for the organization 
of most social institutions. In some cases these basic drives are 
rather apparent; in others they are almost completely hidden 
by the forms and directions of their expression. The forms of 
expression of these drives have varied from one generation to 
another. This variation in some cases is so extreme that the 
basic factors are almost unrecognizable. Thus, the nature and 
form of the home have varied. Religion has varied, and con¬ 
tinues to vary from time to time and from one people to an¬ 
other. The form of our schools is greatly different from what 
it was even two decades ago. Governments may change 
rapidly. Yet underlying all these institutions and the changes 
that affect them we find a dominant need or urge. 

Let us now consider some of these organizations and institu¬ 
tions in more detail, pointing out wherever possible the in¬ 
nate bases upon which they are founded, and some of the char¬ 
acteristic forms of their expression. An elaborate discussion of 
these institutions would introduce problems of social psychology 
and sociology, and would extend beyond the scope of this text. 
It is for this reason, and not that these institutions are regarded 
as relatively unimportant in our lives, that the treatment of 
each is limited and brief. 

The Home. The home is the basic human institution. It is 
fundamental and forms the basis upon which many of the other 
social structures, such as education, public opinion, and govern¬ 
ment are built. Without doubt the fundamental drives upon 
which the home is founded are few in number. Sex is one. If 
there be a separate, innate parental instinct, it should also be 
mentioned. Gregariousness, whether or not it has an innate 
basis, is a large factor in home life. If love is more than a com¬ 
bination of the drives already named (although it probably is 
not), it should be included in our list of the innate bases of 
the home. 


SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 


403 


Within the home we find a necessary adaptation which 
beautifully illustrates the principle of reciprocal social be¬ 
havior. It is ordinarily in the home that the child receives 
his first and most fundamental training in social adaptation. 
It is here that the child learns the significance of social stimuli, 
develops methods of producing social stimulation, and learns 
methods of responding to such stimuli. Since these mechan¬ 
isms have already been described, no further discussion of them 
is needed at this point. 

Religion. In primitive religion fear of the unknown is a 
large element. Coupled with this fear there is developed the 
idea of protection from the fearful situations by submission 
and worship, and the feared object becomes revered as a god. 
Since religion and worship are large components in home life, 
we get an intermingling of the early religious drives with those 
of the home. As religion develops, there is a general lessening 
of the fear elements and a greater emphasis on the idea of the 
fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. These basal 
ideas find expression in elaborate institutions, with the church 
as the foundation. 

Government. As civilization advanced, the idea of the 
home became extended. There developed the tribe and later 
the state. As the functions of the tribe and state became en¬ 
larged, the problems of government became greater. The king 
was father to the larger group. But the parental function be¬ 
came subdivided into the executive, legislative, and judicial 
branches. Authority in the modern state is delegated to a 
number of individuals rather than to one absolute monarch. 

In the organization of the tribe and of the early states the 
ruler held his position by birth. This closely simulated the 
home. In general it has now been found that it is better to 
elect the ruler. Although the method of selection has changed, 
and his authority has diminished, rulers still exercise many of 
the powers and responsibilities of a parent. 


404 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


The methods of exercising power, the direction of this power, 
and the amount, of such exercise vary from state to state and, 
within any state, from time to time. Sometimes the state be¬ 
comes very paternalistic; again less authority is exercised. 

Law. Law is one expression of government. It is a definite 
system of social controls. The laws are usually codified by 
authorized representatives of the people, and are supported 
specifically by group force. As a means of social control mod¬ 
ern law depends upon three things, (i) public opinion, (2) the 
degree to which the people are educated to recognize its valid¬ 
ity and usefulness, and (3) the effectiveness with which it is 
enforced. When law depends largely upon authorized force, it 
is never an effective stimulus for social adjustment. A public 
opinion contrary to the law in a sense nullifies the law. Edu¬ 
cation of the people to the inhibition of such behavior as the law 
prohibits may eventually overcome the effect of public opinion 
or the law may be changed to fit public opinion. 

Customs and Conventions. These are the products of so¬ 
cial tradition. In modern times, monogamy, rather than poly¬ 
gamy and polyandry, is accepted as the proper marital rela¬ 
tionship. The home, rather than the state, is considered the 
most suitable institution for the development of the young. 
Medical science, rather than charms and prayer papers, is held 
to be the most social method of treating the sick. The social 
tradition gains its authority at first because in some way it 
furthers or protects the integrity of the group. Then it be¬ 
comes set as a social control and because of inertia persists even 
after the time has passed when it has immediate significance. 
Eventually some environmental necessity or economic change 
overcomes the inertia and variations in the custom and con¬ 
ventions occur. 

Because they can be altered, custom and convention possess 
only relative power as control agencies. This is a fortunate 
condition. Social progress depends upon the plasticity of the 


SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 405 

social pattern which acts as a control on the individuals who 
react to it. 

Public Opinion. Public opinion is a form of social control 
which is not only very powerful but also almost universal. In 
the tribes of the African jungle, as well as in Chicago society 
circles, public opinion is almost a fetish. Its effect on social 
adjustment is immediately felt in all grades of society. The 
availability of books, magazines, newspapers, and the radio 
for the average man has made possible the creation of a public 
opinion based largely on the ideas and desires of a particular 
group of persons who control these agencies. The newspapers, 
through the space they give to specific news, through editorials 
and cartoons, mold public opinion. They may appeal to preju¬ 
dice and emotions as well as to the intellect. They may, 
through definite propaganda, change the behavior of a nation. 
During the World War the value of organized propaganda was 
very evident. It made possible the welding of millions into a 
relatively integrated unit. The rational, social, and emotional 
life of a people was swayed into the specific form of adjustment 
which would produce the results sought by those in authority. 

The influence of public opinion may be either good or bad. 
It is equally strong for either. Fashions are set, new songs be¬ 
come popular, new methods of transportation are developed, 
and even new moral and social attitudes are set up through 
public opinion. 

Because man is so much a social animal requiring for his 
complete satisfactions the approval and approbation of his 
kind, there is a very powerful tendency on his part to adjust 
socially in such a way that he will become identified with the 
group in which he moves. He takes on the protective coloring 
of that group as far as his social adjustments are concerned. 
Social approval is a very powerful means of control in modern 
society. 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


406 

Education. Education has been recognized for many years 
as the greatest agency for social control. During modern times 
the extended efforts on the part of governments and civilized 
people everywhere to raise the level of intellectual achievement 
is eloquent evidence of this fact. Ignorance and superstition 
are not conducive to a sense of social values. 

In a very real sense all other agencies for social control de¬ 
pend upon education. Without this principle as the basis of 
social progress, civilization would develop very slowly. The 
person who is capable of taking a rational, rather than an emo¬ 
tional, view of his world and the immediate circumstances to 
which he must adjust himself is in a position to make his ad¬ 
justment in terms of social and rational ends that are de¬ 
sirable rather than in terms of the fears or anxieties which dis¬ 
turb him. “ There is no darkness but ignorance.” Education 
results in the appreciation of causal relationships, as well as 
the development of social values. In this way it becomes the 
greatest form of social control that we know. The informed 
individual is likely to see the particular problems of adjust¬ 
ment that confront him in terms of their significance to life 
as a whole; the uninformed person, knowing little about a 
situation beyond his immediate desires and needs, is less likely 
to make an adequate social adjustment. 

Selected References 

Allport, F. H., Social Psychology. Houghton Mifflin, 1924. 
Bagby, English, Psychology of Personality. Holt, 1928. 
Dashiell, J. F., Foundations of Objective Psychology, Chapters 
XIV and XV. Houghton Mifflin, 1928. 

McDougall, Wm., An Introduction to Social Psychology. Luce, 
1926. 

Symonds, Percival M., Diagnosing Personality and Conduct. 
Century, 1931. 


CHAPTER XIV 


PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 

LIX. Analysis of Human Motivation 

If the human being is maladjusted, he uses all the devices 
at hand to attain a better adjustment. If he were thoroughly 
satisfied, all motivation to activity would cease. This general 
urge for relief from dissatisfaction takes many specific forms, 
but for general discussion it may be subdivided into (i) at¬ 
tempts to satisfy hunger, (2) gratification of sexual impulses, 

(3) attempts to secure freedom of movement, and (4) the 
satisfaction of organic needs. 

Why Organisms Are Active. In a broad sense, the under¬ 
lying cause of activity of any sort on the part of an organism 
is a condition of maladjustment. This maladjustment may be 
within the organism or it may be a lack of adjustment between 
the organism and its environment. The activity is an attempt 
on the part of the organism to create a better balance. Activity 
of this sort is seen in its simplest form in reflex responses. If 
the finger touches a hot stove, the arm is withdrawn because 
the pain receptors inform the organism that something is wrong. 
If a bright light shines into the eye, this maladjustment is rec¬ 
tified by a reflex narrowing of the pupil. To be sure, the 
maladjustment need not be pathological, and may be ever so 
slight in amount. If the resultant activity produces an ad¬ 
justment, activity ceases; if the maladjustment continues, re¬ 
sponse of some sort continues until the organism is brought to 
a condition of adjustment. 

Moreover, this continual attempt at adjusting seems to be 
407 


408 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


never ending. As soon as one situation is met, others arise, and 
their solutions, in turn, are followed by other problems. The 
notion that some day everything will be adjusted is, in view of 
the facts of life, a silly ideal, impossible of fulfillment as long 
as we are alive. Life means awareness of the significance of 
maladjusting elements and an attempt to meet them. When 
little significance is given to the various factors of life, adjust¬ 
ment seems relatively easy. The infant, for example, not un¬ 
derstanding the meaning of his environment, is easily satisfied 
and spends most of his time in sleep. The alert man is con¬ 
tinually busy, never satisfied, indeed, expecting never to be 
completely satisfied. He has learned to get his satisfaction 
in the thrill of attempting to meet life as it is, not in a release 
from the necessity to adjust. 

Heretofore in this text, we have been studying the mechan¬ 
isms by means of which we become cognizant of our environ¬ 
ment and the responses by means of which such adjustment is 
effected. Now we shall study the nature of the driving forces 
of life and the manner in which these may act most efficiently. 

Distinction between Motivation and Mechanism. The 
nervous system of man is without doubt the most intricate 
mechanism in existence. It has a vast number of component 
parts so organized that the interactions are practically without 
number. One should never lose sight of this fact. In study¬ 
ing the mechanism, however, one is likely to become so ab¬ 
sorbed in its wonders that little attention is given to the things 
which make the mechanism operate. Man is no doubt a ma¬ 
chine, but he is something more; he is a vitalized machine, a 
machine with sources of energy harnessed to make it function 
properly. An industrial plant with cold fires is just as com¬ 
plex a mechanism as when it is in operation, but an adequate 
description of such a plant should include a description of it 
in operation; there should be a description of the part played 
by the harnessed energy. A dead man is just as complex a 


PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 


409 


being as a live man, but anatomy and histology will never tell 
us all about a man; we must see him in operation. 

The mechanisms of man can, therefore, be considered as an 
apparatus through which the motive forces operate. These 
motive forces are all ready to function in a well-unified per¬ 
sonality and all they need is the sensory stimulus to set them 
off. The sensory stimulus acts as a trigger which releases the 
drive through the proper channels. We cannot function with¬ 
out the trigger, nor can the trigger prove effective unless the 
internal conditions are so set that they will respond. 

This conception need not lead us to a positing of some mys¬ 
terious agency behind activity. The motive forces operate 
according to definite laws just as the mechanism does. The 
difficulty that has been encountered in thinking of this problem 
has been the tendency to go to either one of two extremes: 
to assert that man is nothing but a mechanism, or to believe 
that he is actuated by a mysterious force which does not con¬ 
form to law. Our position is that forces of some sort are essen¬ 
tial in the conduct of man, but that these forces operate in a 
lawful manner. 

General Sources of Motivation. We shall first consider the 
forces that urge man to attempt to adjust himself, and then 
later attempt to show how these forces act in specific patterns. 
Pointing out a general motivation does not explain all its mani¬ 
festations; it serves only as a starting point from which to 
trace its specific influences. 

1. Hunger. That hunger is a motive force of the most vital 
sort man has long recognized. When hungry, a man will do 
things which seem foolhardy or immoral to the man who has 
had his hunger satisfied. Much of the history of man can only 
be understood when it is recognized that the driving element 
was the necessity of providing food. 

But, while we grant that in the history of man, hunger 
played a dominant role, can we say that it is as important 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


410 

now? Certainly we do not see men striving, fighting, and 
working merely for food. There are few of us in this civilized 
age who actually know what it is to be genuinely hungry. Prac¬ 
tically none of us have ever had presented to us the alternative 
of fighting for something to eat or starving. But this does not 
mean that the hunger motive is not important. It simply in¬ 
dicates to us that the hunger motive manifests itself in very 
complex forms instead of in the crude forms in which we find it 
in animals or in primitive societies. 

The primitive reaction was: hunger — eat. Or, if food was 
not at hand, this became modified into the form: hunger — 
fight — eat. In our civilization, it takes the form: hunger — 
work — money — buy — eat. Since working, distribution of 
foods, merchandising, and means of exchange are the greatest 
concern of our modern civilization, the place of the hunger 
motive is apparent. Indeed, it becomes so complex that the 
original motivation is usually lost sight of in the intricacies of 
the means adopted to satisfy it. Working, bartering, and 
social machinery become such an integral part of our lives that 
we take them for granted, and we cannot discern the urge be¬ 
hind our activity unless some unusual condition accentuates 
the urge. 

2. Sex. Another motivating force of great importance is 
the urge toward sex adjustment. The question whether this 
motive force is stronger than that of hunger has never been 
satisfactorily answered, but in spite of our uncertainty on this 
point, we are all aware that the sexual drive in man has re¬ 
ceived more attention than any other. History, literature, art, 
science, and every other activity of man is filled with the 
romance of man working, struggling, and achieving for the 
woman he loves. 

Here, again, we cannot understand motivation without rec¬ 
ognizing that its expression is exceedingly complex. One does 
not explain an intricate bit of conduct with the simple state- 


PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 41 1 

ment that it is actuated by the sexual motive. The much 
larger problem is how it comes to take the intricate forms in 
which it is found. 

In its primitive form, sex maladjustment will lead to ex¬ 
cessive activity of a more or less useless sort. This was tested 
by Wang in an experiment with female albino rats. By con¬ 
fining them in a revolving cage, he could measure the distance 
each rat ran in a given time. By an accurate check made upon 
the degree of sexual maladjustment of each rat each day, he 
could discover whether there was any relation between sexual 
excitement and the distance run. He found that there was a 
very direct and close relationship between activity and sexual 
excitement in the rat. 

While in the rat such maladjustment takes the form of sheer 
restlessness, in man it takes more worthy expression. A man 
or woman in love, instead of merely going through a lot of 
irrelevant movements, is stimulated to work harder at a voca¬ 
tion; to earn money enough to provide for a family; to plan 
means of enjoyment together, and the like. To be sure, we 
have, in dancing all night, a form of excess activity which is 
somewhat analogous to the activity of the rat, but this is a 
very small phase, and usually a passing one, in the whole phe¬ 
nomenon of romance in man. 

3. Freedom of movement. Watson found that hampering 
the movement of a newborn child will arouse fighting, strug¬ 
gling reactions. In animals we can easily demonstrate that 
restraint is a natural stimulus to struggle. Originally this may 
be a reaction to gain freedom for physiological functions neces¬ 
sary for life, but it takes complex forms and is probably very 
important in much of man’s life. A child who feels too much 
the restraint of parental authority will bend every energy to 
outwit his parents and gain freedom. Most of the things we 
desire become more potent in their influence upon us if we 
are prevented from attaining them. Once we have attained 


412 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


the treasure, it loses its value. All these instances probably 
illustrate complications of a very simple mechanism — the urge 
for freedom of activity. 

4. Organic needs. There are, no doubt, a number of or¬ 
ganic needs which lead the organism to attempt adjustments 
of one sort or another. These have not been investigated 
with the thoroughness that they deserve, but what is known 
indicates that they are important in motivation. 

The body has a mechanism which tends to keep it at a con¬ 
stant temperature. In a situation where the external tempera¬ 
ture is too cold or too hot, there is excess activity in an at¬ 
tempt to gain a more favorable environment. This has been 
shown by an experiment in which tiny animals were placed in 
water of different temperatures. At the optimum temperature 
the animal swam placidly the whole length of the tube in which 
he was placed and then back again. When the temperature 
was raised, he would swim a short distance, turn back and 
then turn again, never swimming calmly the entire length of 
the tube. To a lesser degree the same thing happened when the 
animal was placed in a medium which was colder than the 
optimum. 

We have a tendency to avoid harmful substances, painful 
stimuli, excessively loud noises, lights which are blinding in 
their brightness, odors which are too pungent, and tastes which 
are too bitter. These primitive defense reactions become in¬ 
tegrated with all sorts of complex behavior in human society, 
but a careful analysis will reveal their presence. 

LX. Complex Expression of Motives 

Motives take on multiple forms according to the com¬ 
plexities of the environment, as well as according to condi¬ 
tions within the organism itself. These complex expressions, 
being often repeated, assume the form of habitual expressions, 
which we call sentiments. 


PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 413 

Elaboration of Motives. While we have given general 
names, such as hunger, sex, and desire for freedom to the basic 
motives of life, they express themselves only in very specific 
forms, and these specific forms are the result of specific ex¬ 
periences. 

The human adult is hungry, but it takes specific kinds of 
food to satisfy him. He wants it cooked in a certain way and 
served in what he regards as an appetizing manner. He wants 
it in the company of his friends and in vessels which conform 
to his habits. 

Knowledge of this fact is of practical value in the marketing 
of a new food. If the new food is very different from those 
that are enjoyed by the people to whom it is presented, it is 
not likely to become popular. A certain amount of difference 
may make it novel enough to induce sales, but one would have 
a hard time introducing such a dish as Hawaiian poi to Ameri¬ 
cans. It would be literally impossible to make eating it with 
the fingers, as the Hawaiians do, popular with Americans. 

The same elaboration of impulse is found in the sex drive. 
In civilized human beings the mode of expression of the sex 
urge is very different from the crude manifestations of it that 
one may find in savage tribes or in animals. The human be¬ 
ing goes through such an intricate network of conventions 
during courtship that he scarcely recognizes a great amount of 
his conduct as having any sexual basis at all. The fact that 
this motive becomes so elaborate gives fascination to our novels 
and dramas. 

After these motivating forces become modified by conven¬ 
tion and by training, they become so permanently fixed that 
we continue to act in certain ways from sheer habit. Conse¬ 
quently, in much of our conduct it is futile to attempt to trace 
back to the general motivating force each act which we per¬ 
form. Habit in itself becomes the drive which makes us do 
the things we do. You may have to bribe a little boy to dress 


414 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


himself, but what man has to be bribed to accomplish this 
task? 

Development of Effort. In popular discussion, we hear 
much of effort as a factor in efficiency. The man succeeds who 
knows how to exert himself and accomplish something of value. 
The layman is likely to conceive of this factor as a specific, 
motivating element which one either has the good fortune to 
possess or the ill fortune to lack. Such a conception is probably 
fallacious. 

We have seen that resistance to free activity is the adequate 
stimulus for the manifestation of excessive vigor. The way to 
get a child to fight is to restrain him. If his activity results in 
some accomplishment, the child will tend at future times to 
exert himself in somewhat the same manner when resisted 
again. He thus can be taught to build up the habit of exerting 
himself in the face of resistance to his free activity. Effort 
can consequently be conceived as a habit. If one lacks in his 
display of effort, it is quite likely that he has not received the 
type of training we have suggested. The way to help such a 
person is to give him some stimulating but difficult task and 
see that he succeeds in it. Such a plan is much more de¬ 
sirable than to assume he has some inherent lack or that he was 
born lazy. 

Fatigue. The ordinary mechanical device has to undergo 
repairs at various stages and usually, during the periods of 
repair, cannot function. The human machine also has to be 
continually repaired, but it is equipped with a device which 
enables much of this repair work to be accomplished while 
work is continued. When the human being becomes fatigued, 
his speed, or quantity of work, is diminished and the organism 
has an opportunity to recuperate. Fatigue really has two 
components. One is the feeling of fatigue, the subjective ex¬ 
perience which makes the person feel as though he must slow 
down or stop work. The second is the actual incapacity of the 


PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 


415 

organism to function efficiently. A definition which embraces 
both of these factors is: “ Fatigue is the reduction in the out¬ 
put of work as the result of work, and which is recoverable by 
rest .” 1 

The first or subjective factor in fatigue — namely, being 
tired — is a rather paradoxical phenomenon. One often feels 
tired when he has not done sufficient work to cause physio¬ 
logical fatigue and, conversely, after extended work when the 
organism surely should be somewhat depleted, one may feel 
fresh and energetic. The subjective factor should probably 
not be taken as any serious indicator of the need for recupera¬ 
tion. The way to deal with it is to provide additional incen¬ 
tives, so that work may be continued in spite of the feeling 
of fatigue. When such incentives are supplied, when interest 
is stimulated, it has been found that the feeling is very likely 
to disappear. 

Nevertheless, if one considers only the subjective feelings and 
provides incentives to an extreme degree, he may finally pro¬ 
duce a physiological incapacity. That there does operate a 
physiological incapacity after too much work can easily be 
demonstrated in the laboratory. A muscle from the leg of a 
frog can be stimulated to contract by means of an electrical 
stimulation. If such a muscle is made to contract at about 
the rate of one contraction a second, it in time begins to con¬ 
tract to a less and less degree until finally it cannot be made to 
contract at all. It has become so fatigued that it will not 
work any longer. If the muscle is allowed to rest, in time it 
will again respond to the electrical stimulus. 

The person who has men working for him should apply both 
of these principles, so that he may produce the greatest effi¬ 
ciency in his men. Rest periods should be given at sufficiently 
frequent intervals to permit the effects of physiological fa¬ 
tigue to subside, but in addition, these rest periods should be 

1 Poffenberger, A. T., Applied Psychology, p. 134. Appleton, 1927. 


416 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


periods of diversion when fresh incentives are given to the 
workmen so that the feeling of fatigue vanishes. A man rest¬ 
ing for ten minutes, thinking all the time of how much he hates 
to get at his work again, may actually feel more tired at the 
end of his rest period than he did at the beginning. 

Frequent short rest periods are better than longer rest periods 
spaced farther apart. This fact was demonstrated by Mosso 
in some laboratory experiments. He had subjects lift a weight 
by contracting the finger. He found that the finger became 
completely exhausted after the weight had been lifted thirty 
times, and that it took two hours of rest for complete recovery 
from the work. When, however, the work was stopped after 
the weight had been lifted only fifteen times, only half an 
hour was required for complete recovery. Therefore, two rest 
periods of half an hour each effected complete recovery from 
thirty pulls, whereas it required twice that much rest if no rest 
period was given until the finger was completely fatigued. 
Other experiments show that the work done when one is nearly 
exhausted is very costly in terms of time required to recover. 
Keep fresh by frequent rests. 

Mental Fatigue. Because muscular fatigue is so easily 
demonstrated, one is tempted to assume that nerve tissue may 
become fatigued in the same maner. Experimental tests have 
failed to demonstrate any neural fatigue which is as complete 
or extensive as muscular fatigue. One can easily get the tired 
feeling from mental work, but the physiological deterioration 
resulting from such work has been very hard to demonstrate. 
There have been a few changes in nerve cells as a result of 
extreme stimulation, but these were in an experimental situa¬ 
tion and the stimulus was stronger than any that would occur 
in ordinary life. Miss Arai, a Japanese student, did a heroic 
task in mental multiplication for long periods with very little 
specific loss in efficiency. 

Mental work will produce physical fatigue of muscles which 


PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 417 

are held tense during such work, and it is quite likely that 
much that has been called mental fatigue has really been this 
physical fatigue. 

Work as a Factor in Mental Health. To be able to have 
enough motivation to work efficiently and to plan work so 
that fatigue will not interfere excessively are not the most im¬ 
portant conditions for work. We want to work efficiently, but 
we should work healthfully as well. It has been found that 
work is one of the best means of keeping mental balance that 
man has devised. A man who is beset with worries finds wel¬ 
come relief in some occupation that is of interest to him. Lost 
in his work, he can, for the time being, forget his worries. 

This fact has been recognized in recent years by physicians 
and in most modern hospitals there is a department of occu¬ 
pational therapy. In this department, the unfortunates who 
have lost their mental balance are given work, such as rug¬ 
making, carpentry, machine work, painting, and the like. Such 
occupational diversions have been found to be very beneficial. 

How can the beneficial aspects of work be reconciled with 
the popular conception that one must be careful or he may 
break down from overwork? The answer is fairly simple. A 
study of those individuals who are supposed to have worked 
so hard that they had a so-called nervous breakdown show 
that they used their work as an attempt to escape from some 
worry or other mental difficulty. In spite of their work, the 
worry persisted in coming back, so that they had to work still 
harder to keep it away. This situation leads to a race in which 
the victim is running away from his trouble by working harder. 
When the break comes, the work is blamed, whereas the trouble 
that made him work excessively is the real cause. Such indi¬ 
viduals can be identified by the fact that they always work 
feverishly. It matters not what the task is, they must be ex¬ 
treme in their prosecution of it. This shows that work is not 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


418 

always an escape. If the individual can work with normal 
vigor and thus escape this mental turmoil, it is beneficial. If 
he is working feverishly and is still pursued by his trouble, it 
is well for him to adopt some other means of overcoming his 
worry. 

Motives Elaborated into Sentiments. We have indicated 
that in the conduct of adult man, the primitive motives are 
modified by experience to such an extent that his conduct can¬ 
not readily be traced to the elementary forms. What are ap¬ 
parent to the observer or to the man himself in his attempt to 
analyze his own motives are very complex patterns, which have 
been given the name sentiments. 

Sentiments are relatively permanent systems of emotional 
habits. They are built up, as is any habit, by repetitions of the 
situations which call them forth, and are strong in proportion 
as the experiences or education of the individual have made 
them strong. 

These sentiments may be of the constructive or destructive 
sort as measured by their value to the individual, but the prin¬ 
ciples upon which they are based are the same. For example, 
a person because of his favorable experiences with other people 
may have a strongly developed sentiment of loyalty. It has 
been built by having favorable results come from situations 
when his loyal reactions have brought him personal satisfac¬ 
tion. When firmly established, it becomes much stronger 
than the primitive impulse and cannot be understood by any 
attempt to resolve it into its elementary form. 

In the same manner a sentiment of distrust may develop. 
If, when a person trusts others, he has his faith frequently 
rewarded by painful consequences, he may, as a result, tend 
to build up an emotional habit of hate, suspicion, or distrust 
which will color much of his behavior where others are 
concerned. 


PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 


419 


LXI. Practical Applications of the Psychology of 
Motivation 

To discover the motives behind the conduct of men and 
to use this knowledge in various ways to direct their conduct 
is of the greatest importance. If we knew exactly the mo¬ 
tives which would activate a man, we could probably make 
him do anything we wished. It is because of our ignorance of 
the reasons behind his conduct that we are so often unable to 
understand him. For every bit of conduct, there must be an 
adequate cause. Conduct is never silly. It appears silly at 
times because we are ignorant of its background. With 
these propositions before us, let us see how motivation can be 
used in specific situations. 

Vocational Guidance. Attempts to discover for what work 
a man is best fitted have taken two forms. The first is to give 
the man various tests to determine his abilities in different oc¬ 
cupations. The assumption underlying this procedure is that 
a man can do best the work in which he has the greatest ability. 
Usually this is true, but if a man has great ability in a certain 
kind of work but, at the same time, has built up a sentiment 
against that work, he probably will not make a success of it. 
In other words, ability is not the only quality needed for 
success. 

Another method that vocational guidance has developed is 
to determine the various interests of the individual. This is 
done by giving him a list of various types of activites and ask¬ 
ing him to indicate the things which he likes and the things 
which he dislikes. By considering carefully things he likes, 
and choosing a vocation in which these are components he will 
be assured of an occupation which is fundamentally pleasing 
and in which he is very likely to succeed. 

Advertising and Selling. In no field has the psychology 
of motivation been applied with greater success than in the field 
of advertising and selling. While a man theoretically should 


420 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


use only his reason in spending his money, it has been found 
that he more often purchases. because of sentiments than be¬ 
cause of any logical reason. In order to sell goods, one must 
make the customer want to buy them. 

A technique that has been developed in this connection is to 
make extensive surveys of the likes and dislikes of people in 
relation to various articles. The results of these surveys have 
been used in modifying products in accordance with the likes 
expressed and also in formulating the advertising of the product 
to emphasize the things which people want. 

A good illustration of this is seen in the changed policy in 
manufacturing and selling automobiles. At first it was thought 
that, since an automobile involved a considerable expenditure, 
the buyer would want a product which would last a long time. 
The earlier advertisements stressed the endurance of a car. 
But improvements came so fast and models changed so rapidly 
that people did not want a car that would last a lifetime; they 
wanted the latest model. Consequently, while we have cars 
now that will last much longer than the earlier models, no ad¬ 
vertiser stresses the number of years his car may be used; he 
shows that it is the latest thing in automobiles. 

Another striking instance is found in food advertising. Sur¬ 
veys have shown that people buy foods because they are tasty 
and clean. Consequently, the most successful food advertise¬ 
ments are the ones which portray a nicely served portion so 
realistically that the reader’s hunger is aroused. 

Development of Morale. When it is once clearly recog¬ 
nized that men do best the things that they want to do, em¬ 
ployment management takes on a new light. Instead of plac¬ 
ing employees where they can be closely watched, it has been 
found vastly more profitable to devise ways of making the men 
interested in their work. 

A striking application of this was made in the morale work 
developed in the army in the World War. The old notion of 


PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 


421 


army control was a discipline so strict that a man acted as an 
automaton. To take a vast body of recruits and get them into 
such a state of subserviency in a short time was found to be 
well-nigh impossible; so a system was evolved to make the men 
like army work. A morale division was organized which out¬ 
lined a definite program calculated to make the man happy. It 
succeeded so well that establishments employing numbers of 
men would do well to pattern after it. 

Conflicts of Motives. It remains to be said that all mo¬ 
tives do not lead to harmonious activity. Each person’s experi¬ 
ences are of such an order that he develops motives which are 
in conflict with each other. What we are accustomed to call 
moral training is training in inhibiting certain impulses under 
certain circumstances, and at times doing the things we like 
least well to do. 

When a person is confronted with two contradictory motives 
of fairly equal strength, what is he to do? There are only 
three possible ways of reacting: he can choose the first motive 
and act on it; he can choose the second motive and act on it; 
or, he can compromise, and act in a way which is a modifica¬ 
tion of the two. 

An interesting phenomenon occurs when he chooses one of 
the two conflicting acts. Having once started in the direction 
of the chosen one, he usually feels he must support that choice 
and act upon it much more strongly than if he had no previous 
conflict. Consequently, when you see a person acting with 
great decision, it must not be taken to mean that he never had 
a tendency to do the opposite. It is more likely to mean that 
he is afraid he will slip over into the opposite action. For 
example, a man may have had a motive to steal which was 
balanced against a motive of honesty. When finally the hon¬ 
esty wins, he is likely to be honest to the extreme. 

The conflicts which lead to compromises are so innumerable 
that it would be futile to attempt to enumerate them. Such 


422 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

compromises account for many of the acts of men which appear 
on the surface to be foolish. Because an act seems to be fool¬ 
ish, it does not follow that the act is unmotivated. It is likely 
to be a disguised expression of some motive which has been 
suppressed for some reason. 


LXII. Personal Efficiency 

A person may be properly motivated; he may be in the type 
of work which interests him; he may have a goal toward 
which he is working; and he may have the capacity to carry 
out his work. But all of these favorable conditions do not 
imply that he is conducting his activities with the maximum 
efficiency. Motivation is the first essential to good work, but 
in addition, one must learn how to work. The development 
of efficient methods will vary with every occupation and each 
person must work out the details of his own program. Never¬ 
theless, certain general principles, which we can outline here, 
will guide in the formulation of any individual program. In 
occupations where the work is fairly well defined, the or¬ 
ganization of efficiency programs must be quite different from 
the organization of those programs which would help the man 
who is doing creative work. Each person must make his own 
adaptations. 

Organization of Time Schedules. One of the most effec¬ 
tive means for producing efficient work is to plan a time 
schedule for the work. This will be effective whether the jobs 
are mechanical or creative in nature. By doing some samples 
of the work under test conditions, an estimate can be made of 
the approximate time required. Using this sample as a guide, 
plan to do a certain amount of work in each unit of time, allow¬ 
ing short rest periods to intervene. It will be found that if such 
a procedure is followed, much more and better work can be 
done with less strain and in a shorter time. Writers who set 
themselves the task of doing a given amount of work each day 
or each week accomplish more than those who merely set out to 


PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 


423 


work hard. The student who plans his study program and 
outlines what he must do in each period is likely to get it 
done. This procedure is literally setting up a time goal and 
working toward it. 

Plot a Curve of Accomplishment. In addition to the ap¬ 
portioning of time, it is a good plan to keep a graphic record of 
what one has accomplished. In this manner, one sets up his 
own work as something to be improved upon. If the graph 
shows a constant improvement, one is encouraged to keep the 
curve moving in this direction. If it shows a decrease in pro¬ 
duction, it will act as a spur to make him do better work. This 
method has been used with great success in school work, in 
industries, and in situations where group motivation was re¬ 
quired, and it can be used as effectively by an individual in the 
improvement of his own work. 

Search for Better Ways of Doing Things. It is a good 
plan for any person, even if he regards himself as skillful in his 
special line, to ask himself whether he is doing his work in the 
best possible manner. The development of efficiency engineer¬ 
ing has demonstrated that, where the efficiency of methods of 
work is questioned, much improvement can be brought about. 

Gilbreth, in his studies of fatigue, found that the position 
of a worker had much to do with his efficiency. For example, 
an operator whose machine was so arranged that she had to 
stoop continually was able to improve her work when the ma¬ 
chine was raised so that stooping became unnecessary. Typists 
have shown much improvement when a suitable type of chair 
is provided. 

In some instances, the habits of work are so deeply rooted in 
custom and in the individual worker that it is hard to effect 
a change even when such a change is proved to be desirable. 
This condition obtains in typewriting. The standard keyboard 
is not the most efficient arrangement of keys. In typing ordi¬ 
nary material, one has to use the less efficient left hand more 


424 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


often than the right hand. The strokes for the right and the 
left hands are of about the ratio of 16 to 21. Besides, the 
fingers are not used according to their relative capacity, as 
they might be in a better organized machine. However, after 
one has learned to typewrite on a standard keyboard, he would 
probably lose in efficiency if he attempted to learn a new key¬ 
board. If this condition is seriously considered, improvement 
could be made for those who are beginning to use a typewriter. 
Most persons are very slow to make a change from the ac¬ 
cepted order of things, even when they can understand that 
their methods are not the best. The one who strives for per¬ 
sonal efficiency must constantly force himself to overcome this 
tendency to inertia. Most of us hunt for ease, rather than 
efficiency, failing to realize that more ease in the long run will 
be obtained if we endure a little immediate discomfort while 
we are improving our methods. 

Stimulating Employees. Parallel with the interest in per¬ 
sonal efficiency goes the stimulation of employees to improve 
their output. One cannot expect the workers to do their best 
unless they are properly stimulated and motivated. 

A change has come about, based on our increasing knowledge 
of psychology, in the application of incentives to stimulate 
employees. The traditional incentives that have been used 
have been fear, punishment, and compulsion. These have been 
shown to be inadequate and to lead to more and more in¬ 
efficiency. They have given place to the use of methods and 
devices which encourage initiative, cooperation, loyalty, pride 
in accomplishment, and love for the work itself. 

This change has the support of experimental investigations. 
Hurlock 1 put four groups of children who were of equal capac¬ 
ity through a course of training in arithmetic for a period of 
five days. One group were regularly praised for the excellent 

1 Hurlock, E. B., “ An Evaluation of Certain Incentives Used in 
School Work,” Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 16, pp. 145 ff. 


PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 425 

quality of their work; the second were regularly reproved for 
the poor quality of their work; the third group were ignored, 
although they were permitted to hear the commendation and 
reproof given to the other groups; and the fourth group were 
trained in a separate room, being given no praise or reproof 
themselves and no knowledge of that given to the others. This 
experiment demonstrated that praise was the most effective 
incentive. The first group had a final score nearly seventy-five 
per cent better than the fourth group, about forty per cent bet¬ 
ter than the second group, and sixty per cent better than the 
third group. Those who were kept free from any reproof or 
praise did not improve their work during the course of the five 
days. The first administration of reproof was about as effec¬ 
tive as praise, but the effect soon wore off, whereas praise con¬ 
tinually increased efficiency. 

LXIII. Indirect Influences upon Efficiency 

In addition to the effect of motivation, efficiency is in¬ 
fluenced by various other factors. Some of these have to do 
with the condition of the individual, such as the use of drugs, 
others have an influence upon his happiness and thus in¬ 
directly affect his efficiency. We shall consider each of these. 

Effect of Drugs on Efficiency. Almost as far back as we 
have accurate historical records, man has used drugs in an 
attempt to adjust his inner life or to enable himself to ad¬ 
just to his environment. At various times, serious battles have 
been fought against the use of drugs by those who contend that 
their effect is deleterious. Recently scientists have endeavored 
to discover just what is the effect of certain of these drugs on 
the physiological and intellectual processes of man. While the 
laboratory tests have been very disappointing to the reformer, 
it may be well briefly to state the conclusions of these in¬ 
vestigators. 


426 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


1. Tobacco. A study of the effects of tobacco was made by 
Hull. With careful controls, he studied the effect of smoking a 
pipeful of tobacco on pulse rate, tremor of hand, tapping, mus¬ 
cular fatigue, speed of crossing out A’s, accuracy of crossing out 
A’s, reading reaction time, learning reaction time, speed of add¬ 
ing, accuracy of adding, memory span, and rote learning. Hull 
concludes that of all these activities, only three show unmis¬ 
takably the effects of tobacco. Two of these — pulse and 
tremor — are essentially physiological. The pulse is increased 
and the hand is less steady. Of the psychological processes, 
only adding shows a loss in accuracy. The rest show a doubt¬ 
ful influence. In other words, laboratory tests have not 
shown tobacco to be harmful, and on the other hand, they 
have not shown it to be a means of definitely improving 
efficiency. 

2. Alcohol. Much discussion has been centered about the 
effect of alcohol on the human being and most investigators, 
until recently, have been so partisan in their studies that they 
failed to use adequate controls. The difficulty has been accen¬ 
tuated by the fact that alcohol differs in its effect in propor¬ 
tion to the size of the dose; in small quantities, it may have 
food value, while in large quantities it is a poison. Further¬ 
more, it has been found to stimulate one set of organs and to 
depress others; and finally, it has a widely different effect on 
different individuals. In spite of these difficulties, Dodge and 
Benedict, and Hollingworth have found fairly consistent re¬ 
sults. The results of Hollingworth are especially convincing 
and conclusive. He administered alcohol in the form of beer, 
with control doses of beer from which the alcohol had been 
removed. “ In all the mental and motor tests used, the effect 
of alcohol is to reduce the score. The hand is made less steady; 
motor coordinations less accurate and rapid; rate of tapping 
is reduced; the processes of color-naming, naming opposites, 
and adding are slowed down, and the rate of substitution learn- 


PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 


427 

ing is less rapid. In pulse rate, which must be considered sepa¬ 
rately from these mental and motor tests, the effect of al¬ 
cohol is to produce a positive acceleration.” 1 

Do men drink in order to make themselves less efficient? 
Why do drinkers report that they can do better work when 
they are partially intoxicated than when sober? The most 
common reason for drinking is that by this means men find a 
temporary escape from trouble. In the face of tasks which 
seem too much for them or mental conflicts which they can¬ 
not solve, men take to drink. Whereas one man may forget his 
trouble in work, another attempts to forget his by the use of 
a drug which reduces his cerebral activity. The motive for 
drinking has not been studied by means of laboratory experi¬ 
ment, but there is increasing clinical evidence to support this 
conclusion. 

3. Other drugs. Other drugs are taken by men for various 
reasons. Some of them, such as caffeine, seem to have an im¬ 
mediate stimulating effect. Others, such as morphine and co¬ 
caine, are taken to relieve pain. The habit-forming power is 
especially strong in the latter two, and a person who has once 
become a morphine addict has very marked and painful symp¬ 
toms when the drug is not taken. These are called abstinence 
symptoms and, in some cases, have been known to prove fatal. 
Such drug habits must be broken by giving the individual 
gradually diminishing doses. 

Such use of narcotic drugs by man can only be understood in 
terms of his attempt to adjust. If a man feels inefficient, a 
drug may make him feel efficient for a time. If he is in pain, 
a drug may remove the pain. If he is in a mental conflict, 
some drug with a deadening effect may enable him to forget for 
a time. The best way to treat a drug addict is to discover the 
motivation behind his habit, and teach him some better way 

1 Hollingworth, H. L., “The Influence of Alcohol,” Journal of Ab¬ 
normal and Social Psychology, Vol. 18, pp. 204 ft., and 311 ff. 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


428 

to adjust. Only in this way can the drug habit be treated with 
fair hopes of recovery. 

Efficiency through Satisfaction. Numerous studies have 
demonstrated that industrial efficiency is increased through any 
device or organization which will increase the satisfaction of 
the worker. Such satisfaction may be brought about by many 
devices, but five general methods may be enumerated. 

1. Medical care. The use of medical clinics has proved 
very effective in increasing the feeling of assurance of workers 
that, should sickness overtake them, they would be cared for. 
Recently there has been a movement toward the employment 
of specialists in mental disorders, so that the mental health of 
the worker may be safeguarded as well as his physical health. 
Any such movement is desirable, but it must be recognized that 
clinical work deals only with the minority of individuals. A 
person may be mentally and physically in good health and still 
be dissatisfied. Hence, while clinics are necessary, they do not 
solve the larger problem of making the entire working force 
satisfied. 

2. Satisfaction in work. Various attempts have been made 
to make the work interesting in itself. Pride in workmanship, 
competitive devices, sliding wage schemes, beautiful surround¬ 
ings, music, worker ownership, and many like schemes have 
been used to make the worker feel that his work is a vital 
thing of which he may rightfully be proud. In some industries 
these methods may be used very effectively, but in others the 
managers feel that these methods are very costly because they 
run counter to the tendency toward increasing specialization. 
Such increased specialization automatically makes work in and 
of itself less interesting and, consequently, the aim to make 
work attractive must lead to greater and greater artificiality. 

3. Shorten working hours to permit more recreation. This 
plan has been sponsored very effectively by Henry Ford. The 
theory is that efficiency necessarily leads to work that becomes 


PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 429 

less interesting in and of itself, and that the only way to satisfy 
the worker is to shorten his working hours, raise his pay, and 
permit him to enjoy life. The worker does not expect any 
fun from his work. He comes to work to do his highly spe¬ 
cialized task as efficiently as possible, knowing that he is be¬ 
ing well paid for it, and looking forward to the time when he 
can leave the factory and enjoy life. 

4. Use oj machinery to do the most undesirable jobs. It 
must be recognized that the Ford philosophy does not attempt 
to force workers to do unpleasant tasks. Its keynote is the in¬ 
crease of efficiency. To this end, the invention of machines to 
do the most menial jobs has greatly alleviated the situations 
which existed in industry half a century ago. While work in 
the modern factory is monotonous, it is to a great extent not 
actually distasteful. We have automatic stokers to relieve the 
sweaty human stoker; we have ditch diggers and steam shovels 
to relieve the human worker from the use of the old pick and 
shovel; we have steam hammers, steam saws, conveyors, and a 
thousand other devices which made man the overseer of a ma¬ 
chine instead of a beast of burden. Consequently, while work 
is becoming more monotonous, it is getting farther and farther 
removed from the sweat-shop. 

5. Removal of hazards. With the increased use of ma¬ 
chinery comes the increased possibility of accident, with con¬ 
sequent injury to the workmen. Two methods may be used 
to deal with the problem of accidents. One is to provide me¬ 
chanical safeguards against accident and the other is to pro¬ 
vide workmen with compensation and insurance when they are 
injured. Both of these are being more and more extensively 
used. The second, of course, is the more desirable for imme¬ 
diate protection; the former is the goal for which we should 
strive. 

Two English investigators, Collis and Greenwood, made a 
study of the hazards connected with various professions. They 


430 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


reduced the variables to percentages of hazard as compared 
with that of a clergyman, calling the latter ioo. The relative 
hazards for the years 1900 and 1910 are given in Table XI. In 
some of the industries conditions were greatly improved in the 
ten-year period, suggesting what might be done in others. 


Table XI. Hazards oe Industrial Workers 

(From Poffenberger, A. T., Applied Psychology, by courtesy of 
D. Appleton and Company.) 



1890 

1910 

Clergy 

100 

IOO 

Agricultural laborers 

119 

106 

Commercial clerks 

172 

181 

Coal-miners 

174 

164 

Bricklayers 

188 

149 

Saddlers and harness-makers 

174 

166 

Cotton-manufacturers 

214 

183 

Wool-and worsted-manufacturers 

186 

151 

Silk-manufacturers 

i73 

162 

Hosiery-manufacturers 

131 

166 

Lace-manufacturers 

i33 

174 

Carpet-manufacturers 

164 

145 

Tin plate workers 

187 

152 

Chemical workers 

262 

147 

Paper-making 

170 

iS3 

Shoe-making 

173 

188 

Tailors 

186 

180 

Cabinetmakers 

184 

179 

Printers 

206 

174 

Bookbinders 

199 

179 


Conclusion. Motivation is a very important factor in hu¬ 
man behavior. Motive may, by analysis, be reduced to a few 








PERSONAL EFFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION 431 

fundamental drives, such as hunger, sex, freedom of movement, 
and satisfaction of organic needs; but in the actual behavior 
of the human being in society, they become very complex and 
appear in various forms. Consequently, the study of human 
motivation must deal with complex human sentiments, rather 
than with simple urges. A man gets hungry, but he wants to 
eat, not to satisfy his appetite alone, but to satisfy a multitude 
of esthetic sentiments which he has learned. The same is true 
of all other desires. 

Personal and industrial efficiency depends upon the opera¬ 
tion of these various motives in connection with various situa¬ 
tions in which the individual finds himself. By organizing 
work, either for ourselves or for those in our employ, the force 
of motives may be definitely controlled. 


Selected References 

Moss, F. A., Applications of Psychology. Houghton Mifflin, 1929. 
Poffenberger, A. T., Applied Psychology. Appleton, 1927. 


CHAPTER XV 

MENTAL HEALTH 


LXIV. Sleep 

Periodically a man goes into a state in which impressions 
fail to gain entrance through his sense organs, the tonus of his 
body decreases, he becomes relatively inactive, and his mental 
processes take on very unusual forms which are known as 
dreams. While this condition, from a physiological stand¬ 
point, is considered simply as a period of recuperation, it pre¬ 
sents some complications in relation to our mental activity 
which form an interesting chapter in psychology. 

Physiology of Sleep. In sleep there is a partial or complete 
loss of consciousness with which go the following observed 
conditions quoted from Howell: 1 

1. Respiratory changes. “The respirations become slower 
and deeper, and the costal respiration (respiration by elevation 
of the ribs) predominates over the abdominal or diaphragmatic 
respiration, as compared with the waking condition. The 
respiratory movements, also, frequently show a tendency to 
become periodic, that is, to Si^ase and decrease regularly 
in groups. . . . The expiration is frequently shorter and 
more audible than in the respirations of the waking hours.” 

2. Changes in tonus. “ The eyeballs roll upward and out¬ 
ward and the pupil is constricted. . . . The knee-kick de¬ 
creases or disappears entirely during sleep.” 

3. Changes in secretions. “ Some of the constant secretions 
are diminished in amount, as, for instance, the urine, the tears, 

1 Howell, Wm. H., Physiology, p. 255. Saunders, 1921. 







MENTAL HEALTH 


433 


and the secretion of the mucous glands in the nasal and pharyn¬ 
geal membrane. One of the familiar signs of a sleepy condition 
is the dryness of the surface of the eyes, a condition that 
leads to the rubbing of the eyes. It is sometimes stated that 
the digestive secretions are diminished during sleep, but the 
statement does not seem to rest upon satisfactory observations, 
and may be doubted.” 

4. Circulatory changes. “ The pulse rate decreases during 
sleep; the blood pressure falls somewhat.” 

The common factor in all these changes is that the activities 
of the sleeping organism are for the most part those essential 
for the maintenance of life. Conduct which is specifically 
a reaction to environmental situations is largely held in 
abeyance. 

Psychological Factors in Sleep. “ In much everyday dis¬ 
cussion, the word ‘ sleep ’ is used precisely as it should be used 
in scientific discourse. For example, consider a baseball game 
in which a runner is playing rather far off second base, in readi¬ 
ness to steal third at the first opportunity. The pitcher unex¬ 
pectedly throws to shortstop; whereupon the runner, becom¬ 
ing confused, makes for the wrong base. As he is put out, the 
fans exclaim, 1 Sound asleep! ’ Generalizing, we say that an 
organism is ‘ awake ’ to those parts of the environment to 
which it is reacting specifically , and in a manner which tends 
to preserve it; we call it ‘ asleep ’ to those objects to which it 
does not specifically react.” 1 

This popular conception can further be elaborated to dis¬ 
tinguish between a person who is in actual sleep and one who 
is awake. If we stimulate a person and he fails to respond to 
that stimulus, we judge him to be asleep even though he may 
be relatively active in other respects. Persons may walk in 
their sleep and do elaborate acts, but if they fail to respond 

1 Johnson, H. M., “Is Sleep a Vicious Habit?” Harper’s Magazine, 
November, 1928, pp. 2-3. 


434 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


to specific stimuli, we judge them to be asleep and call the 
phenomenon a somnambulistic or sleep-walking episode. But 
this distinction is only relative because there are persons who 
do react to their environment, go from place to place, carry on 
business, and seem to be alert and wide awake in every re¬ 
spect, but who, after a period, may wake up with no memory 
of all the varied activities of the preceding weeks or months. 
These periods of wanderings are called fugues. These persons 
were asleep to parts of their preceding existence and when they 
“ wake up,” they forget all that happened in the period of 
wandering. We may say that these persons were awake. To 
all outward appearances they were, but to certain parts of 
their lives and to those external situations which would in¬ 
evitably remind them of these portions, they were asleep. 

In still another sense, parts of our bodies may be asleep 
while other parts are awake. This situation may occur when 
we maintain a certain posture for so long a time that a part 
becomes numb. We say our foot or hand is “ asleep.” It is 
incapable of receiving impressions from the outside or from 
the muscles and skin. By means of a local anesthetic, we may 
put our leg or arm or other portion of our bodies to sleep. 

The mental life of the sleeper is not entirely inactive. In 
certain types of sleep, parts of his mental life may be very 
active. Front a psychological standpoint , sleep may be consid¬ 
ered as a positive resistance against certain types of activity. 
A person partly asleep is unresponsive to a limited group of 
mental stimuli; a person deeply asleep is unresponsive to a 
greater portion of the things which would stimulate intellectual 
activity. 

Activity during Sleep. Although there is little specific 
activity during sleep, recent experiments have demonstrated 
that the actual movements of the sleeper occur with greater 
frequency than was formerly supposed. Professor Johnson, 1 
1 Loc. cit., pp. 7-9. 


MENTAL HEALTH 


435 


by means of a recording apparatus attached to the bed of the 
sleeper, was able to get a graphic record of any movement of 
the sleeper, either of his whole body or of a limited part. His 
most important findings may be summarized as follows: 

1. Children move during sleep more often than adults. On 
the average, a healthy child moves every seven and one-half 
minutes during his sleep. The least motile child moves on the 
average every ten minutes, and the most motile child every 
five minutes. This indicates that movement during sleep is of 
greater frequency than most persons have supposed. 

2. Fatigue of a moderate amount increases motility during 
sleep. Both adults and children are more restless when they 
go to bed tired. 

3. Each person has a characteristic rhythm which is not 
easily broken. When two persons occupy separate beds, placed 
side by side, they stir and rest independently of each other. 
“ If two persons desire to rest undisturbed by each other’s 
movements in sleep, this can be done by using separate beds. 
Separate rooms are quite unnecessary unless one person is 
noisy when asleep or unless he walks about or talks while he 
is awake.” 

4. It appears that lights and noises, in themselves, have but 
little effect on sleep. Once they arouse us, light and noise may 
interfere with a return to sleep. Johnson’s results show that 
they are not important interrupters unless they are intense, 
novel, or frequently repeated; or unless we have trained our¬ 
selves to respond to them. His records show that blind and 
deaf persons have the same frequency of movements as per¬ 
sons with keen sense receptors, a condition which would not 
obtain were sense impressions important factors in causing 
movements in sleep. 

These movements are all the results of automatic attempts 
on the part of the organism to remove sources of irritation 
which would tend to disturb sleep. In other words, sleep is 


43 6 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

not merely a passive condition; it is an active attempt to main¬ 
tain a condition in which one does not react to external stimuli. 

Insomnia. If this conclusion is sound, it throws light on 
another problem; namely, the differences in individuals in the 
ease with which they can relax and go to sleep, as well as the 
differences which the same individuals experience at different 
times. Some persons suffer from insomnia. In spite of all 
their efforts, they find themselves unable to sleep, and the 
harder they try, the more sleep seems to flee from them. This 
condition is probably due to an inability to ignore environ¬ 
mental stimuli. Such a condition may result because one has 
been too much excited by the events of waking life, or because 
he has failed to learn the habit of relaxation. To attempt 
to sleep is simply to aggravate the difficulty and to keep in 
touch with external events. The tricks adopted to induce 
sleep substantiate this theory. One may “count sheep”; 
read a monotonous and uninteresting book; listen to a monoto¬ 
nous sound; or encourage free association which is commonly 
known as “wool-gathering.” All these things encourage in¬ 
activity. They are means of producing immobility of mental 
and physical processes. When these factors lead to actual 
immobility lasting over an interval of five minutes or more, 
we have sleep. Johnson has adopted this criterion to deter¬ 
mine when a person is asleep. He says: “We arbitrarily 
date the beginning of sleep from the beginning of the first 
stretch of immotility which exceeds five minutes.” 1 

LXV. Dreams 

Just as sleep involves characteristic differences in the kind 
of bodily activity which predominates in the waking state, so 
there are characteristic differences in the kind of neural ac¬ 
tivity during sleep, when compared with the intellectual 
processes that may be observed when one is awake. 

1 Loc. cit. 


MENTAL HEALTH 


437 


Why Do We Dream? It is quite likely that mental ac¬ 
tivity during sleep may be of two sorts. One is the chance 
interplay of neural currents which takes place when there is a 
lack of central control. This type of thing takes place when 
one has what is called an occupational delirium. The activities 
which have occupied one in the waking state have stimulated 
certain neural pathways so that their activity continues after 
sleep sets in. For example, after driving a car all day, one 
may, in an abortive manner, continue the driving in his sleep. 
If one is worried about some event during the day, all the 
phases of this problem continue to dominate the mental life 
of the dreamer. 

On the other hand, there is evidence to indicate that the 
dreamer makes automatic attempts to keep in the background 
thoughts which would result in awakening him, just as he re¬ 
sists physical irritations that would disturb his sleep. This is 
the second sort of mental activity which may take place during 
sleep. 

Let us illustrate how this operates. A business man is har¬ 
assed by a problem he cannot solve. During all the day there 
surge through his mind various possible solutions which he 
rejects for one reason or another, only to have them come up 
again and again in his frantic search for a suitable solution. 
Finally, at the close of the day, having failed to solve his 
problem, he seeks a reprieve through sleep, but in vain, for 
the problem will not leave his fevered brain. As he is about to 
go to sleep, the problem comes back in full vigor, clamoring 
for a solution. If he could only solve it, he could relax! 
Finally, he does manage to throw it off long enough to go into 
an initial period of intellectual and physiological immotility. 
Then the problem comes back to disturb him in the same man¬ 
ner that the physical irritations tend to wake him. He can 
throw off the physical irritations by turning over, and he may 
attempt to throw off the intellectual irritations in the same 


43 8 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

manner, but a bodily roll will not remove the burdens from 
one’s mind. Another device comes to his aid. He weaves 
the problem into a distorted intellectual product and dreams a 
solution. In other words, a dream is a device to enable the 
dreamer to avoid reacting specifically to an intellectual 
stimulus. 

The solution which the dream offers may not be a feasible 
solution; it is merely a solution designed to enable the person 
to continue to sleep without giving intelligent thought to the 
intellectual stimulus which provokes the dream. It would 
be a mistake to credit our dream life with solving rationally 
some intricate problem. We might remember a dream solution 
which would prove the most desirable answer to our problem, 
but this does not mean that dream solutions are always best. 
In such an instance, it is likely that the dream solution is 
merely a reverberation of a solution which has already pre¬ 
sented itself in our waking state. 

Dreams as Personality Indicators. Freud has evolved the 
theory that all dreams are expressions of unfulfilled wishes of 
one sort or another. It is easy to see why many dreams would 
express unfulfilled wishes. If one has an unsolved problem, 
it is quite likely that some solution may have presented itself 
in the form of a wish that he might act in a certain manner. 
Because of personal or social ideals or conventions one has 
to discard many possible reactions. In the dream, such a 
rejected solution, a rejected wish, could come as the com¬ 
promise solution; the solution designed to enable us to re¬ 
frain from reacting specifically and with deliberation to our 
problem. 

If we study our dreams, we can learn two sorts of things 
about ourselves. We can tell the nature of the problems 
which have given us the most concern during the day. These 
are the ones that will most insistently intrude upon our sleep. 
Secondly, we can get an indication of the type of solution which 


MENTAL HEALTH 


439 


has suggested itself to us. Sometimes these solutions may be 
in the form of subtle wishes which we rejected with but fleet¬ 
ing consideration when we were awake. 

Dreams Have No Prophetic Value. It should be mentioned 
that scientific studies of sleep and dreams give absolutely no 
support to the many superstitions which have been current 
that dreams have prophetic value. We may, of course, do at 
a later time what a dream indicates we wanted to do, and thus 
the dream may be fulfilled. But this is quite different from 
contending that there is any causal connection between our 
dreams and an earthquake, fire, rainstorm, train wreck, death 
of a friend, or the like. Dreams may tell us something about 
the mental life of the dreamer, but they have no virtue to pre¬ 
dict forthcoming events. 

Types of Dreams. Dreams take on multitudinous forms, 
and one cannot hope to devise any complete or adequate 
classification. For convenience, however, some general types 
may be differentiated. 

1. Free-association dreams. The occupational delirium, to 
which we have already referred, belongs in this class. The 
associations follow each other in random sequence with no 
control on the part of the dreamer except that furnished by 
the important place occupied by certain associations in the 
immediate past. It is quite likely that most dreams are of 
this sort. They are composed of a meaningless jumble which is 
so incoherent that most of the elements are immediately for¬ 
gotten. What incidental memory does remain seems to have 
little significance. 

2. Wish-fulfilling dreams. The popular conception of 
dreams emphasizes this type of dream. We regard the land of 
dreams as the place where we obtain our heart’s desire. We 
dream about our ambitions and ideals in life, and if our sleep¬ 
ing dreams do not satisfy our appetite for this method of get¬ 
ting what we want, we may fall into daydreams. Clear-cut, 


44 o GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

wish-fulfilling dreams are very characteristic of childhood, as 
any study of children’s dreams will show. 

As one grows older, there are many things for which one 
might wish, but some moral or intellectual repugnance may 
prevent him from openly acknowledging that he has any such 
desire. Such wishes may take the form of a dream in which 
the actual wish is disguised. Many dreams have been stud¬ 
ied, especially by the psychoanalysts, in the light of this 
theory and have, to a certain extent, corroborated the view 
that in a dream the wish may be disguised. A study of such 
dreams often indicates the underlying impulses that actuate 
one. Some psychologists have expressed a skeptical attitude 
toward interpreting dreams in this fashion. The reason for 
this skepticism lies in the fact that the psychoanalysts have 
tended to emphasize one type of wish rather exclusively; 
namely, wishes connected with the sexual life of the dreamer. 
If we keep before us the purpose of the dream as we have out¬ 
lined it, this need give us no difficulty. The dream is a means 
of rejecting insistent stimuli which call for a solution through 
intellectual activity. If dreaming a direct solution provides 
a ready rejection, the dreamer will dream that he is getting 
his wish. If getting such a wish violates the moral codes of 
the sleeper, he will be likely to dream that he is gratifying 
his wishes only in a disguised manner; that is, he dreams a 
compromise which will give him relief and, at the same time, 
not violate his moral ideals. A disguised wish-fulfilling dream, 
in addition to indicating the suppressed wishes of the dreamer, 
will also disclose the moral ideals which led to their suppression. 
Unfortunately, this latter use of dream interpretation has been 
very much ignored. We take more delight in hunting for the 
scandalous things in life than the worthy elements. 

3. Fear dreams. One of the most persistent disturbers of 
waking life is fear. A person who is dominated by a wish may 
temporarily dispel the restlessness which accompanies a lack 


MENTAL HEALTH 441 

of achievement; he may relax with the hope that on the mor¬ 
row he will have better fortune and come nearer to the fulfill¬ 
ment of his wish. Not so with a fear. One harassed by a 
fear often finds it impossible to relax; he cannot tell himself 
that he has partially adjusted to his fear; he must be on the 
alert or some dire fate will overtake him. How natural, then, 
that a great many dreams should deal with fears. Furthermore, 
in spite of the dream, the fears insistently encroach on sleep and 
finally wake the sleeper. The person awakened because of 
a fear will readily remember the dream which came as an at¬ 
tempt to maintain sleep. Hence, a large number of remembered 
dreams are fear dreams. 

Fear dreams may also disguise the real fear which actuated 
them, so that much light can be thrown on the life of a dreamer 
if he can determine the real fear which causes his restlessness 
and inability to relax. If one is subject to fearful dreams, his 
best course is to deal frankly with his fears until they disap¬ 
pear, instead of frantically attempting to get into a dreamless 
sleep. 

4. Allegorical dreams. Dreams are very likely to take the 
form of picture symbols. When these are brief and discon¬ 
nected, we may get a suggestion of the problems which con¬ 
front the dreamer. In some instances, the dream becomes a 
bit of artistic work and takes the form of a fine allegory. The 
meaning of such dreams is rather apparent if one does not 
try to give the symbols literal interpretation. 

A woman once told the writer that all her life she has been hav¬ 
ing dreams which have fitted into a complete figurative story of her 
whole life. This dream story took the form of traveling over vast 
expanses of territory. If she had a particularly glorious experi¬ 
ence, she would dream of passing through the most beautiful coun¬ 
try, different items of beauty representing the different specific good 
things that were happening to her. When she had difficulties, she 
would dream of passing through rough mountainous country, and 


44 2 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 

going over bridges that were about to be washed away and pitch her 
into the raging waters beneath. Through all these journeys, she 
always pictured a distant peak toward which she was journeying. 
In some dreams, the peak would stand out glorious and clear, and 
in others it seemed to recede and be hidden by the mists. These 
dreams did not portend what was going to happen to her. They had 
no prophetic significance. But they did show her attitude toward 
the experiences she was having. 1 


LXVI. Efficient Use of Sleep 

Since sleep occupies at least one third of life, most persons 
are concerned in making it contribute as much as possible to 
their mental welfare. Our discussion of the principles involved 
in sleep and dreams suggests the following practical rules 
which may be applied to make sleep function effectively. 

Learn to Relax. Sleep is essentially relaxation, mental and 
physical. Relaxation means ceasing to respond actively to the 
stimuli which insistently play upon us. It is a habit, which 
may be learned if one approaches it properly. The one who 
suffers from insomnia usually has a fear that he cannot sleep. 
This fear in itself causes tension, and thus frustrates the very 
purpose it is supposed to serve. To work hard should not 
involve inability to lay aside that work for a period of time. 
The harder one works, the more justification he has to say 
to himself, a I have worked hard and now I am going to take 
some time for rest. After I have rested, I shall go at it again.” 

Sleep Enough to Keep Fit. Most persons have the theory 
that sleeping is a nuisance, and attempt to get along with as 
little of it as possible. This very attitude tends to make 
sleep less beneficial because it carries with it a feeling of 
tension and a fear that one may sleep too long. The value 
of sleep cannot be measured by the length of time one spends 

1 Morgan, John J. B., and Gilliland, A. R., An Introduction to Psy¬ 
chology, pp. 271-272. Copyright, 1927, by The Macmillan Company. 


MENTAL HEALTH 


443 


in bed. The studies in motility during sleep suggest that one 
gains more by sheer abandon when he retires, than he will if 
he goes to bed with a restless feeling that he is wasting time 
or with a fear that he may not sleep. 

Study Dreams to Understand Mental Life. Dreams, when 
frankly studied, will tell a person much about himself. They 
should not be ignored or merely regarded as evidence of un¬ 
sound sleep. They should be studied as a means to a better 
understanding of one’s self. 


LXVII. Hypnosis 

Hypnosis is essentially a sleep. The person goes to sleep — 
that is, becomes unresponsive to external stimuli — but re¬ 
mains responsive to the actions and words of the person who 
told him to sleep. There is no mystery in hypnotic sleep; it 
is simply another form of sleeping “ with one eye open.” The 
hypnotized is asleep to his whole environment, with the ex¬ 
ception of the hypnotist, but he is quite responsive to this one 
personality. 

Nature of Hypnosis. We have seen that sleep is essentially 
an active resistance against responding to certain specific 
stimuli. If this resistance is general, the person is said to be 
in a deep sleep; if it is partial, he is in a light sleep. But a 
person may be in a deep sleep with reference to certain phases 
of his environment and awake to other phases. Witness a 
mother who sleeps very soundly, but is alert to the slightest 
disturbance on the part of her baby. She goes to sleep, but 
with the reservation that she will continue to be alert to her 
child. We are all familiar with illustrations of this kind of 
sleep. Hypnosis is a sleep of this sort. 

Hypnotism Based on Suggestibility. The method by 
means of which a person is hypnotized is somewhat as follows. 
The hypnotist has the subject gaze at a fixed point, instructs 


444 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


him to relax and think of nothing except the fact that he is going 
to sleep, tells him he is getting sleepy, that his eyelids are 
getting heavy and are closing, and that he is sound asleep. 
These statements are repeated over and over until the subject 
actually does close his eyes and is, to all appearances, asleep. 
In this condition, the person may do things that the hypnotist 
tells him to do; he responds to the hypnotist but not to other 
persons. 

When a person obeys the hypnotist, goes to sleep, and 
follows the commands of the hypnotist when asleep, we say 
he is suggestible. What do we mean by that? Why is he 
willing to do what he is told? It is well known that a person 
cannot be hypnotized if he is unwilling to be. Willingness 
to obey is a large factor in suggestibility and is probably the 
only factor of significance. Some persons, influenced by the 
superstition under which hypnotism throve, believe that this 
willingness to obey is evidence of some mysterious power on 
the part of the hypnotist. Indeed, it was once thought that 
some such influence radiated from certain persons, and was 
referred to as animal magnetism. We now know that there is 
no such force or anything resembling it. Obedience is nothing 
more than a learned attitude. In our contacts with others 
we come to trust some and to distrust others. From some we 
will take advice and suggestions, but from the advice of others 
we flee as from a plague. Our judgments of others in this 
respect are often faulty, but, nevertheless, we continue to make 
them. 

Furthermore, some persons develop the habit of placing 
implicit trust and confidence in great numbers of people. 
Others scrutinize every person with great care, are very sus¬ 
picious, and seldom take any suggestion without many reserva¬ 
tions. In other words, we differ in the degree to which we re¬ 
spond to the influence of others and also in the number of 
persons by whom we permit ourselves to be influenced. If we 


MENTAL HEALTH 


445 


have great confidence in another person, we accept suggestions 
from him. If we have no confidence in a person, we will not 
accept suggestions from him. Whether we are habitually re¬ 
sistive or suggestible is dependent upon the experiences we 
have had with others. If, when we have trusted people, we 
have benefited thereby, we tend to maintain the attitude of 
trust. If, having trusted others, we find ourselves betrayed, 
we tend to maintain the attitude of negativism or distrust. 

This is the essential nature of the suggestibility which pro¬ 
duces hypnosis. The subject must have confidence in the 
hypnotist; he must believe that the hypnotist’s commands 
are to be obeyed, and be willing to obey them implicitly. When 
he reaches this stage, he may be hypnotized by that person. 
Those persons who have a negativistic attitude toward all 
people (and there are such persons) cannot be hypnotized by 
anybody. All this goes to show that hypnotism is no display 
of peculiar force by the hypnotist, but depends solely on the 
attitude of the subject. A good hypnotist is one who has 
learned how to gain the confidence of people. 

Is it wise to take suggestions from other people? The 
answer that the reader gives to this question will, to a certain 
extent, indicate whether he is suggestible or negativistic. 
The balanced man takes suggestions from some persons and 
refuses to take them from others. He tries to use a certain 
amount of discretion. One should not take suggestions as to 
his investments from his barber, nor ask his bootblack for 
whom he should vote, nor request a headache remedy from the 
first person he meets on the street. Nor, on the other hand, 
should he scorn all advice from broker, banker, physician, or 
personal friend, each in his legitimate field. By the same 
token, one should not ask to be hypnotized by every person 
he meets; but, on the other hand, he has not done something 
to his permanent injury, should he permit himself to be hypno¬ 
tized by some one he trusts. 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


446 

All stories to the effect that a person may be hypnotized 
against his will, may be influenced by another who is miles 
distant, may be made to do immoral things which are against 
his ideals, or may permit himself to be victimized by hypno¬ 
tists who sneak around unobserved are sheer nonsense. Each 
person has complete say as to the degree to which he may be 
influenced as well as to whom he will respond. 

LXVIII. Knowledge of Psychology Fosters 
Rational Adjustments 

When we study the mental lives of those around us, we are 
sure to observe that there are great differences in the success 
that different persons achieve in adjusting mentally. There 
are persons who seem perfectly normal; there are those who 
are queer; those who are hard to get along with; those who 
become vicious and cannot be trusted; and those who become 
so mentally unbalanced that they have to be confined in a 
hospital. To understand all the factors which lie behind these 
differences would require a great amount of study, but we 
can sketch briefly here some of the main causes of these varia¬ 
tions, in the interest of helping the student to formulate some 
principles which have been found essential to the maintenance 
of mental health. 

Adjusting to Our External Environment. In much of our 
early life we are occupied with learning how to adjust to the 
environment in which we find ourselves. Such an adjustment 
is not always simple and easy. We are stimulated by one 
set of conditions to do one thing and by another set to do 
another, a situation which precipitates a conflict. There may 
be a bit of candy which we want to eat and, at the same time, 
a larger person who says, “ No, no.” Further, we may have 
learned that if we take the candy when this person is around, 
we encounter an unpleasant situation, such as a slap or some 
other disagreeable stimulus. Counter stimuli are continually 
present, and a large part of our lives is taken up with a selec- 


MENTAL HEALTH 


447 


tion from these conflicting stimuli. Our actual response de¬ 
pends, of course, upon our previous experiences. 

A person may learn continually to do the things which 
bring him into conflict with certain forces in the outside world. 
He may be the bad boy in school; he may be the criminal 
when he becomes an adult. While such a condition of malad¬ 
justment to the moral and social restrictions makes life un¬ 
pleasant for the one who seems unable to accept social 
inhibitions, it does not lead to a mental breakdown. It is not 
this type of thing which leads a man to an institution for the 
insane. Mental balance is not upset by an out-and-out fight 
with one’s environment. 

Adjusting to Our Internal Environment. Our major ad¬ 
justments are not to social restrictions. To be sure, some 
persons conform only because they know they will be in con¬ 
flict with the law if they do not, but that is simply a continua¬ 
tion of a childish attitude. The normal individual, through 
experience, builds up certain sentiments or emotional attitudes 
towards life, and these attitudes take the place of the external 
restraints which control the child. 

For example, a child may refrain from taking the candy 
because he is afraid of getting his fingers slapped; the adult 
should learn to refrain from taking it because it is stealing. 
Now, the inhibition against stealing is an internal attitude 
which takes the place of external force. A person restrained 
by such an attitude (or ideal, as it is often called) is not 
in conflict with the law, but with himself. Part of his 
being wants the candy and another part will not let him 
take it. 

Furthermore, these internal conflicts need not always be an 
impulse fighting against an ideal. There may be two attitudes, 
each in itself a perfectly worthy one. Witness the conflict a 
young man may have between his sentiment of love for his 
home and his ideal of an education which would take him 


448 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


away to college. Both are worthy, but in conflict can lead 
to a tremendous mental battle. 

Conflicts between different phases of our mental life are 
the order of the day and are not to be shunned or viewed with 
disapproval. The normal man must face these things all the 
time and adjust to them. Normal mental life is just this 
resolute and conscious facing and adjusting of each issue as it 
arises. What leads to mental disturbance is the failure to face 
each issue as it arises. The keynote to mental balance is: 
Face each issue and adjust it as it arises. 

Adjustment may lead to one of three consequences. One 
horn of the dilemma may be accepted and the other totally 
rejected; the other horn may be accepted; or there may be a 
compromise between the two points of issue. There is a false 
notion that the latter in itself indicates a lack of mental bal¬ 
ance. This is not so. Often a compromise is the logical pro¬ 
cedure, and where one accepts a compromise deliberately, as 
his best solution to the problem, he is making a rational and 
wholesome reaction. The cause of mental disorder is jailure 
to face the issue squarely. 

But why should a person fail to face a conflict squarely? 
Because, in many instances, such a situation is painful, and 
rather than prolong the pain, a person escapes it as best he can 
by adopting what have been called in psychology defense 
mechanisms, or defense reactions. A defense reaction is a 
means of getting rid of a conflict by some means other than a 
real settlement of the points at issue. The person is defending 
himself against the pain of conflict, and not against any spe¬ 
cific issue; and that is what makes the trouble. 

The way in which a defense operates will become clear if we 
give a specific illustration. A young man complained that his 
mental processes were not functioning properly; that he was 
losing his memory; that he could not think clearly; that life 
had taken on a different coloring; and that things no longer 


MENTAL HEALTH 


449 


looked bright to him. He said he was afraid that he was losing 
his mind. Tests showed that he was not losing his memory, 
that he did mental problems as well as ever, and that these 
things about which he complained were not real troubles. 
Now the question is: “Why would anyone develop such a 
story when it is without foundation? ” If our statement about 
a mental conflict is valid, the questions to ask about this man 
are: “ What do these symptoms help him to hide? Why is he 
defending himself, and against what? ” 

Investigation showed that this boy had a great ambition to 
be a writer; that he had repeatedly tried to write, but that 
all his attempts had met with failure and his manuscripts 
always came back from the editors rejected. It was easier for 
him to say that his mind was going to pieces, and thus give 
himself a legitimate reason for abandoning his aspirations, than 
to admit that he had no ability. He could gain sympathy 
from his friends if he had a mental breakdown, but not if he 
had always lacked ability, particularly when he had boasted 
about his literary skill. So the disorder was an attempt to 
disguise a feeling of failure. 

But there was still more in this case. This boy was un¬ 
usually short in stature. He had been ridiculed because of 
his size and had been forced to admit that he was inferior 
physically. He was led to fear that, because of this physical 
inferiority, he would always be an outcast socially. Without 
quite realizing why, he had taken up literary pursuits in order 
to demonstrate that he could be a social success. So we see, 
in the last analysis, his problem was not to adjust to his sup¬ 
posed lack of memory or failing mental powers, but to adjust 
to his real difficulty — namely, his physical inferiority. 

Forms of Defense Mechanisms. With this sketch of the 
principle involved in defense reactions, let us consider some 
other forms. 

i. Excess activity. Excess activity may be used in adjusting 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


450 

both to external difficulties and to internal ones. An exam¬ 
ple of the former is when one is interrupted in a conversation 
by the appearance of the one about whom he is talking. There 
is a tendency to talk much faster about any irrelevant thing 
which presents itself. The defensive nature of this chltter 
is obvious to any observer who knows the significance of such 
things. 

The greater significance of excess activity is seen in its use 
to escape from some internal problem. When one cannot de¬ 
cide an issue, he can temporarily forget its existence by busy¬ 
ing himself in some totally different activity. This principle 
has been used with some success in the treatment of patients 
in institutions for the insane. As long as they can be kept 
busy, they are able to think less of their own troubles. (We 
have discussed the operation of this principle in Section LX, 
Chapter XIV.) The difficulty with this defense is that in 
spite of the work, the problem returns. This tends to make 
the person work still harder in order to escape. There then 
ensues a wild race, an attempt to keep busier and busier to 
keep away from the trouble. If this goes to an extreme, the 
individual may finally succumb to what appears to be over¬ 
work. But in such a case, the real trouble is not that the per¬ 
son worked too hard, but that in spite of the fact that he 
worked hard, he was not able to keep busy enough to overcome 
his mental conflict. 

Another difficulty with this defense is that, in most in¬ 
stances, there will come a time when the task which one has 
started is finished. The completion of work, instead of bring¬ 
ing satisfaction and needed rest, brings only an increase in the 
severity of the mental battle and the person dreads the time 
when he can finish his work. This explains the queer situa¬ 
tion which one may observe of a person working feverishly 
and well, until he nears the end of his immediate task; where¬ 
upon he gets panicky and breaks. 


MENTAL HEALTH 


45i 


If a person has a feverish urge to work, it is well, from the 
mental health standpoint, to endeavor to find out why he has 
this urge, rather than to preach moderation in work to him. 

2. Insufficient activity. Other persons may do quite the 
opposite of working hard. They may give up, deciding that the 
best way to settle a conflict is to do nothing. This becomes 
especially pernicious if such inactivity is accompanied by a 
tendency to keep away from others. It can readily be seen 
why these two tend to go together. Most of our mental diffi¬ 
culties are concerned with other persons, those who have made 
unsolvable problems for us. Furthermore, when we have 
some difficulty, others are likely to try to adjust things for us, 
often in a way which we do not want. If this happens, one 
may tend to turn away from people, remain passive, and 
spend his time in reviewing his troubles in his own mind. 

This is a most serious defense reaction. After all, it is bet¬ 
ter for a person to attempt some sort of adjustment, even if he 
makes a mistake, than to refuse to adjust at all. So, if one 
had to take his choice between doing too much and doing 
too little in his efforts to adjust, he had better choose the 
former. If one is lost in a wilderness, he may get out if he 
keeps moving, but he has no chance at all if he simply stops 
moving. 

3. Fears. Fear is a biological defense mechanism, a means 
of defending the individual against danger. The first reaction 
to an external danger, or thwarting, is to fight. It is only 
when fighting fails in the accomplishment of its purpose, the 
removal of the harmful object, that fear stimulates the indi¬ 
vidual to remove himself. From the standpoint of mental 
hygiene, fears are undesirable because in many instances they 
make an individual retire from a conflict before he has at¬ 
tempted to adjust it, and because the fears become attached, 
through conditioning, to objects and situations where they 
have no proper place. These displacements of emotions, as 


452 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


they are called, are the most serious type of maladjustment 
because they defy rational treatment. If a person says he is 
afraid of some trivial thing, such as rubber, lightning, dirt, 
open places, and the like, and, in the same breath, tells you he 
knows it is silly, you can rest assured he is not really afraid 
of the thing about which he is talking, but that this is a sub¬ 
stitute for some other fear which really is the object of his 
emotional reaction. This displacement of fear is a defense 
reaction, a means of disguising the real object of fear. The 
only way to correct such a fear is to determine the object or 
issue that the person really fears, and deal with it. 

Having found the real source of a fear, how can it be dealt 
with? Experience has taught most of us that familiarity is the 
best way to overcome fear of an object. There is another 
method which, in a crisis, is still better. If the emotion of fear 
can be turned into another type, such as anger or amusement, 
a crisis may be averted. For example, a professor of chem¬ 
istry recommends this plan, which he has found very suc¬ 
cessful. If some one burns himself with a chemical, or has 
some similar accident in his laboratory, the professor has found 
that if he expresses too much sympathy, the person may very 
easily faint, or at least arouse fear in the other students. Con¬ 
sequently, when a student has an accident, the professor scolds 
him for his awkwardness and tells him that it was all his own 
fault. This makes the student so angry that the fear disap¬ 
pears and the crisis is averted. 

An illustration will show how ridicule or joking can counter¬ 
act fear. An assistant in a chemical laboratory, while attempt¬ 
ing to pour some acid into a container, spilled the acid over 
himself. He ran out of the room in a panic, yelling that he 
was burned, that he would die. The head of the laboratory 
grabbed him and placed him at once under an emergency 
shower. The assistant continued to yell; whereupon the 
laboratory head said, “ Just look at your clothes! Your skin 


MENTAL HEALTH 


453 


will heal up, but look at your clothes; they are ruined! ” The 
panic at once subsided. 

These principles can be applied, not only in our dealings 
with others, but with ourselves. An unpleasant emotion, 
once begun, is likely to be fostered and encouraged by dwell¬ 
ing on it. Let it shift to another less serious one, and mental 
health is assured. A good principle is to train ourselves to see 
the humor in life. We can see the humor in things that others 
take too seriously; so why not see the humor in our own situa¬ 
tions and save ourselves from agony? 

4. Compensation. Compensation is a very common defense 
mechanism. Generally it takes the form of emphasizing one 
characteristic in an attempt to make appear insignificant 
another characteristic in which a person may happen to be, 
or fears he is, deficient. The trait to be emphasized may be 
chosen at random, but in many cases it is the opposite of that 
which we wish to cover. Probably the best distinguishing mark 
of this mechanism is that its victim usually goes to extremes. 
It might almost be stated as a principle that when a person is 
observed doing anything to an unwarranted extreme, he is 
compensating. The fact that his whole attention is given to 
escaping the manifestation of some trait which is undesirable 
makes him lose his perspective, so that he does not realize that 
he is going to extremes. A person who is afraid that he may be 
dishonest will appear extremely honest. One who is physically 
inferior may be a bully, may become over-intellectual, or may 
become a health faddist. One who has a fear that he may be 
selfish will go to the extreme of being unselfish and be so 
painfully generous that he annoys all those around him. One 
with a fear that he is not doing well socially may overdo 
his attempts to develop social contacts. 

The fact that a person is compensating need not be taken 
as a direct implication that he is either in bad mental health 
or that some severe disorder will overtake him. If one sue- 


454 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


ceeds in gaining excellence in some activity, when actuated 
by compensation, it may be to his credit. The danger comes 
when one selects some form of compensation which is detri¬ 
mental to his own interests, or when he fails in spite of all 
his extra efforts. The former leads to social ostracism and the 
latter to despair. 

Compensation, to be a worth-while reaction, should be car¬ 
ried out with complete awareness of why one is following the 
interests which he is. It is dangerous when one does not 
realize why he is acting in the manner that the compensation 
dictates. Here, again, the condition of mental balance is de¬ 
pendent upon one’s willingness to face squarely the problem 
which confronts him. 

5. Rationalizations. One of the most subtle ways of escap¬ 
ing a difficulty is to reason it away. This process has been called 
rationalization. It consists of using what appears to be a logi¬ 
cal process, when one is simply inventing excuses of a more 
or less elaborate sort. 

This mechanism can begin in a very minor way and insidi¬ 
ously grow to be quite striking. For example, a young man 
may fail to accomplish what he had hoped for. Common 
sense would suggest to him that the fault might be in himself: 
he might be incompetent; he might have insufficient training; 
he might have some traits which worked to his disadvantage; 
or other possibilities might suggest themselves. None of 
these is very welcome, however, and it is much easier to hunt 
for explanations which do not involve any unpleasant admis¬ 
sions of deficiencies. Consequently, if one can say that some 
fellow worker is plotting against one, a better feeling is en¬ 
gendered and one maintains his self-respect. This looks trivial, 
but once started, the defense may grow unwittingly until it is 
very pernicious. There is a definite mental disease which 
begins in just this way and such defenses are built up until the 
patient has actual delusions that people are all concerned in 


MENTAL HEALTH 


455 


persecuting him to keep him from succeeding. If the belief 
that the time of a great number of persons is taken up with 
plotting against one is actually accepted, the result is so satis¬ 
fying that the belief is very hard to correct. It certainly would 
be better to admit incompetence in the beginning, even if one 
overdid it, than to deceive oneself into believing that failure 
is due wholly to the machinations of others. 

These illustrations of various defense reactions show that 
where one compromises unconsciously, he is very likely to 
develop behavior that is not the most desirable. These are 
symptoms, and they always indicate that the victim has failed 
to meet some problem of adjustment. The correction of such 
symptoms requires that the person endeavor to correct the 
basic conflict. 

6 . Sublimation. In some instances, one cannot make an 
adjustment of the points of issue even when he has fairly 
faced them and recognizes their significance. This is particu¬ 
larly true when one has a strong and almost ungovernable im¬ 
pulse to do some particular type of thing and, at the same 
time, has developed ideals which inhibit such conduct. A 
compromise may take the form of permitting the undesirable 
impulse to gain expression in a modified form which will not 
be harmful to the individual or to society. These valuable 
indirect expressions of fundamentally undesirable impulses are 
called sublimations. 

There is little doubt that many of our fine activities are of 
such order. A boy whose ungovernable curiosity makes him a 
prying pest may later transform this impulse into the zest for 
research that characterizes the man of science. A person with 
a vicious streak of cruelty might conceivably sublimate such an 
urge by becoming a surgeon. 

Our study of psychology has emphasized the function of 
our mental organism as a means of adjustment. It is pri¬ 
marily an adjustment to our environment, but it is none the 


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 


456 

less an adjustment of the various parts of ourselves. Our 
bodies must work in harmony or there will be trouble. Such 
harmony means meeting each situation, whether largely de¬ 
pendent on external or internal stimuli, in such a manner as 
to enable us to make the best possible reaction. We must 
keep our mental balance and must maintain a harmonious 
relation to those about us. Lack of mental balance is almost 
invariably the result of unwillingness to see things as they are. 
We must teach ourselves to perceive accurately; to evaluate 
what we perceive; to relate these to our previous experiences 
retained in the form of memories, habits, or ideals; and to act 
in the manner which these indicate we should. If our reaction 
brings us pain, it is evidence that it has not been of the right 
sort. If such is the case, we have probably ignored some ele¬ 
ment, and the only sensible thing to do is to do what the child 
does when he falls and bumps his nose in his efforts to walk 
— attempt to make a better adjustment next time. 

Selected References 

Freud, Sigmund, The Interpretation of Dreams. Macmillan, 1923. 
Moll, A., Hypnotism. London, W. Scott, 1890. 

Morgan, John J. B., The Psychology of the Unadjusted School 
Child. Macmillan, 1923; Keeping a Sound Mind. Macmillan, 
1934 - 

Paton, Stewart, Signs of Sanity and the Principles of Mental 
Hygiene. Scribner, 1922. 

White, Wm. A., Principles of Mental Hygiene. Macmillan, 1917. 


INDEX 


Ability, and interest, 36if. 
Abnormal psychology, 31. 
Accomplishment, curve of, 423. 
Activity, excess, 449L; insufficient, 
451 - 

Adaptation, to light and color, 
1 igf.; to noise, 217. 

Adjustment, and imagination, 29iff. 
Adler, 306. 

Advertisements, recognition value 
of, 263L 

Advertising, psychology of, 13, 32, 
101, 149, 150, 152ff., 193, 263f., 
4 * 9 *. 

Afterimages, 118. 

Aggressiveness, 369; test of, 382. 
Allied reflexes, 85. 

Allport, F. H., 382; and Vernon, 

384- 

Altruistic stage, 330. 

Amoeba, 38, 39, 209. 

Anger, 327f. 

Animal psychology, 30, 32. 
Antagonistic reflexes, 85. 
Appearance at birth, 83. 

Applied psychology, 3if. 

Aptitude tests, 36of. 

Aristotle, 3. 

Army Alpha examination, 34Sff.; 

distribution of scores, 349ft. 
Association, learning by, 228. 
Astrology, 374. 

Attention, 143ft.; and emotion, 
309f.; and muscle tonus, 68; 
control of, 167ft.; determinants 
of, isoff.; span of, i48ff. 
Attitudes, 583; emotional, 329ft. 
Auditory localization, 203f. 


Auditory perceptions, 203f. 
Auditory sensations, 123ft. 
Autonomic nervous system, 64ft., 
304f., 305. 

Axone, 53ft. 

Bacterium, 38. 

Bagby, English, 316. 

Baldwin, B. T., 340. 

Baldwin, J. M., 6. 

Barker, L. F., 136. 

Bean, C. H., 222. 

Behavior, criteria of, 82f.; innate, 
79ft.; meaning of, 7gf.; social, 
387ft. 

Benedict, F. G., 426. 

Bennett, H. E., 198. 

Berman, Louis, 376. 

Bernreuter, 383. 

Bills, A. G., 281. 

Binet, Alfred, 340. 

Binet-Simon tests, 286, 340ft., 384. 
Bird, Moseley and, 93. 

Blanton, M. G., 89ft. 

Blind spot, no, 112L 
Blood pressure, 321. 

Blood sugar, 322. 

Bloomfeld, Yerkes and, 94. 

Bodily adjustment to emotions, 
3 ° 3 - 

Book, W. F., 22of., 266L 
Brain, 59; functions of, 63f.; parts 
of, 59 ff- 

Breed and Shephard, 93. 

Bridges, J. W., 343- 

Calkins, M. W., 247. 

Cannon, W. B., 65, 310, 311. 

Carr, H. A., 271, 299. 


457 


458 


INDEX 


Case study, 27f. 

Cattell, J. G. Me., 5. 

Central nervous system, 52ft. 
Cerebellum, 6of. 

Cerebrum, 62; divisions of, 63f. 
Chain reflex, 84. 

Child psychology, 30, 32. 

Circular reflex, 85. 

Clark, G. L., 44. 

Cleeton, U. V., 376. 

Clothier, R. C., 35iff. 

Cochlea, 125. 

Collis, 429E 
Color blindness, n8f. 

Color, contrast, n7ff.; mixing, 
115ft.; pyramid, 115; sensitivity, 
112-113; zones in retina, i2of. 
Color vision, facts of, n5ff-; the¬ 
ories of, I22f. 

Combination, in learning, 218. 
Compensation, 453. 

Compound reflex, 84. 

Concept, 283ft. 

Conditioned response, 77f. 
Conflict, of responses, 71. 

Conradi, 93. 

Contrast, simultaneous, 117; suc¬ 
cessive, 118. 

Cranial nerves, 60. 

Cutaneous sensitivity, 129ft. 

Dashiell, J. F., 69, 100, 106, 120, 
i3of., 311. 

Data, organization of, i8f. 

Deceit, study of, 383. 

Deduction, 297E 
Defense mechanisms, 449ft. 
Dendrites, 53, 54. 

Descartes, 3. 

Dewey, John, 98, 287, 294ft. 
Discrimination, 274. 

Disuse, law of, 222. 

Dodge, R., 426. 

Dreams, 436ff. 

Dunlap, Knight, 224. 


Ear, description of, 123. 
Earthworm, 40. 

Ebbinghaus, H., 222, 244. 
Educational psychology, n, 32. 
Effect, law of, 222. 

Efficiency, drugs and, 425ft.; indus¬ 
trial, 428ff.; personal, 422 ft. 
Effort, and learning, 267; develop¬ 
ment of, 414. 

Egocentric stage, 329. 

Emotional and glandular activity, 
Si* 

Emotional behavior, 300, 334. 
Emotional learning, 308, 313. 
Emotional rhythms, 308. 
Emotionality, test of, 381. 
Emotions, of infants, 306; meas¬ 
urement of, 319; social behavior 
and, 392ft. 

Energy, 41ft. 

Experimental method, 19, 276. 
Extroversion, 368, 380. 

Eye, description of, 107; develop¬ 
ment of, 104. 

Facial expression, 324. 

Facilitation, 70. 

Fatigue, 414ft.; mental, 4i6f., 423. 
Fear, 327ft., 45 if- 

Forgetting, 222; also, see Memory. 
Formal discipline, 271. 

Fovea, no. 

Free association test, 323. 

Freeman, F. N., 340. 

Freud, S., 438. 

Fugues, 434. 

Gang stage, 330. 

Gates, A. I., 47, 72, 73, 74. 
Generalization, 284!.; and abstract 
principles, 286; and prediction, 
285. 

Genetic psychology, 31. 

Gesture, 397. 

Gilbreth, F. B., 232, 423. 


INDEX 


459 


Gilliland, A. R., 382, 442. 

Glands, and emotional behavior, 
Si; duct and ductless, 49ft-; en¬ 
docrine, 37 5. 

Greenwood, M., 429L 
Growth, process of, 45. 

Habits, as drives, 413L; formation 
of, 23off.; laws of, 235ft. 

Hall, G. Stanley, 6. 

Hallucinations, 204ff. 

Hartshorn, May and, 383. 

Harvey, William, 4. 

Hate, 329. 

Helmholtz, H., 126. 

Henning, H., 134. 

Hering, E., 122. 

Heterosexual stage, 330. 
Hollingworth, H. L., 356, 357f 
359, 372, 426E 
Hough, T., 50, 51. 

Howard, D. T., 378f. 

Howell, W. H., 49, 432L 
Hull, C. L., 426. 

Hunger, 409. 

Hunter, W. S., 102. 

Hurlock, E. B., 424. 

Huxley, 297. 

Hypnosis, 433 ^- 

Ideals, 382f. 

Ideational learning, 228ff. 

Illusions, 192ft. 

Imagination, 29off. 

Individual differences in intelli¬ 
gence, 335ft- 
Induction, 297f. 

Industrial psychology, 12. 
Infants, emotional reactions of, 
3o6ff. 

Inference, 284. 

Inhibition, 70. 

Insight, 181, 278L 
Insomnia, 436. 

Instinctive behavior, 92. 


Instinctive responses, 97ft.; integra¬ 
tion of, 99. 

Instincts, and reflex, 66; classified, 
97; in lower forms, 92L; in man, 
93ft.; integrated, 99. 

Institutions, social, 401 ff. 

Integration, 71. 

Intelligence, 335H.; definitions of, 
33 7f.; factors in, 338ft.; inherit¬ 
ance of, 338. 

Intelligence quotient, 343. 

Intelligence tests, 34off.; group, 
344ff.; limitations of, 358L; use 
of, 344ff.; vocational guidance 
and, 359ft- 

Interest, and ability, 36if.; effect 
of, on learning, 266L 

Introspective technique, 24L 

Introversion, 368L; tests of, 380L 

James, William, 4, 232L, 234, 235, 
257L, 265, 272, 277, 364. 

Jennings, 39. 

Johnson, H. M., 433 ®* 

Joy, 326. 

Judgment, 283. 

Jung, C. G., 368. 

Kant, 306. 

Kelly, T. L., 6. 

Kenagy, H. G., 354 - 

Kinaesthetic sensitivity, 13 7 f- 

Kirby, T. J., 270. 

Knight, F. B., 376. 

Kohlstedt, 380. 

Krause, end bulb of, i29f. 

Kretchmer, E., 376. 

Kuhlmann, F., 343. 

Kuo, 223. 

Ladd-Franklin, C., 123. 

Laird, Donald, 380. 

Language, 398f.; and thought, 
282L; development of, 399 f- 


460 


INDEX 


Lashley, 64, 76. 

Learning, definition of, 210; kinds 
of, 2ioff.; laws of, 2 2off.; meth¬ 
ods of economy in, 265ff.; nature 
of, 207ft.; teacher and, 270L; 
variations in complexity of, 225ft. 
Lincoln, E. A., 340. 

Lobes, of brain, 63. 

Love, 329ft. 

Magneff, N., 222. 

May and Hartshorn, 383. 
McDougall, William, 102, 395L 
Meaning, and attention, i47f.; and 
perception, 172. 

Mechanical ability, tests of, 360L 
Medulla, 60. 

Meissner corpuscles, 129ft. 
Memorizing, rules for, 240ft. 
Memory, 238ft.; imagination, 290L; 
improvement of, 257L; inciden¬ 
tal, 254L 

Mental health, 432 ft. 

Mental life, 14. 

Meyer, Max, 126. 

Mid-brain, 6if. 

Miles, 258. 

Moore, H. T., 382. 

Morale, 182, 420L 

Morgan, J. J. B., 256, 307, 347, 442. 

Moseley and Bird, 93. 

Mosso, 416. 

Motivation, analysis of, 407ft.; ef¬ 
fects of, 266f.; practical applica¬ 
tions of, 419ft. 

Motives, expression of, 412ft. 

Motor adjustments, in attention, 
164. 

Muller-Lyer illusion, 195, 197. 
Munsterberg, H., 6. 

Muscio, B., 269. 

Muscle, striped and smooth, 46ft. 
Muscle tonus, 67ft. 

Musical ability, tests of, 361. 
Myeline sheath, 54. 


Negative adaptation, 216ft. 
Nervous system, 52ft. 

Neurone, 53L 
Neyman, 380. 

Noble, Helen, 347L 

Noise, 127ft.; adjustment to, 155L 

Nutrition, process of, 45. 

Observation, learning by, 227L; 

technique of, 25L 
Odors, classification of, 135. 
Olfactory sensitivity, 134ft. 

Organ of Corti, 125L 
Organic sensitivity, 139L 
Otis, A. S., 344, 347 - 

Pain, adaptation of, 133; end- 
organs for, 130ft.; frequency of, 
132. 

Paramecium, 39. 

Parental love, 329. 

Pavlov, I. P., 77f. 

Perception, 178ft.; and insight, 181; 
as individual interpretation, 179; 
of space, 183ft. 

Performance tests, 342L 
Personality, 364ft.; dreams as in¬ 
dicators of, 458L; in vocational 
guidance, 385. 

Personnel management, 144, 159L, 
183, 268L, 349ft., 361, 377, 415ft., 
42 2ft. 

Phasic responses, 69L 
Phobias, 316. 

Phrenology, 374L 
Physiognomy, 374!. 

Pintner, R., 347L 

Poffenberger, A. T., 152, 415, 430. 
Pressey, S. L., 381. 

Pressure, 132 ft. 

Primacy, law of, 224L 
Prince, M., 316. 

Psychogalvanic reflex, 323. 
Psychology, and scientific method, 


INDEX 


461 


17ft.; fields of, 28ft.; methods, 
8ff.; value for professions, ioff. 
Pulse, 320. 

Pyle, W. H., 270. 

Rating methods, 377; value of, 351. 
Rating scales, 35iff. 
Rationalization, 454. 

Reading, perception in, 202f. 
Reasoning, 2 73; advantages of, 
2g8f.; steps in, 294ft. 

Recall, 2S8ff.; deliberate, 265^; 

spontaneous, 264^ 

Recency, law of, 225. 

Receptors of cutaneous stimuli, 
I29ff. 

Recognition, 26off.; errors in, 262f. 
Reflex, 72ft., 76; characteristics of, 
87ft.; types of, 83ft. 
Regeneration, process of, 45. 
Religion, 403. 

Repair, process of, 45. 

Respiration, 321. 

Response, conditioned, 76f.; innate, 
goff.; symbolic, 396f. 

Retention, 253ff. 

Retina, io8ff. 

Robinson, E. S. and F., 193. 
Ruffini, end-organ of, 131. 

Ruger, H. A., 227. 

Rugg, H. O., 340, 358. 

Scientific certainty, degrees of, 2off. 
Scientific procedure, 17ff297. 
Scott, W. D., 6, 347, 35iff. 

Seashore, C. E., 361. 

Sedgwick, W. T., 50, 51. 

Selling, psychology of, 12, 166, 170, 
1 77 f*, i82 > 2I 5 , 2 6i, 4 i 9 f- 
Semicircular canals, 125, 126, i38f. 
Sensation, io5ff. 

Sense organs and stimuli, 43ff. 
Sentiments, 418. 

Sex, 83, 4iof., 413. 

Sheldon, William, 376. 


Shephard, Breed and, 93. 

Sherman, M. and I. C., 89, 307. 
Simon, Theodore, 340. 

Simple reflex, 84. 

Skin, end-organs in, i29ff. 

Sleep, 432ff. 

Smell, i34ff. 

Snow, A. J., 354. 

Social institutions, 401 ff. 

Social psychology, 31, 32. 

Social reactions, 388. 

Sorrow, 3o6f. 

Sound, i26f. 

Space perception, i83ff. 

Spaulding, D. A., 93, 94. 

Spinal cord, 56ff. 

Spranger, Eduard, 384. 

Static sensitivity, i38f. 

Statistical technique, 26f. 

Stenquist, J. L., 360L 
Stern, W., 337. 

Stilling, 119. 

Sublimation, 96, 455f. 

Substitute response, 77f., 317ft. 
Substitute stimulus, 78, 3i5ff. 
Suggestibility, 443ff. 

Summation tones, i27f. 

Synapse, 54ff. 

Tactual space, i85f. 

Taste, i32ff. 

Temperature, 129s. 

Terman, L. M., 5, 340, 343. 

Tests, of intelligence, see Intelli¬ 
gence tests; of capacities other 
than intelligence, 36off.; perform¬ 
ance, 343f. 

Thinking, 2 74ff.; as adjustment, 
27gff-; imagination and, 293; 
mechanisms used in, 28off. 
Thirst, i39f. 

Thorndike, E. L., 5, 227f., 235, 
258, 347 , 351 - 
Thought, types of, 287ff. 
Thurstone, L. L., 6, 381, 382, 383. 


462 


INDEX 


Time, perception of, 2ooff. 
Titchener, E. B., 5, 115. 

Tone, 127 f. 

Tonus, 321. 

Transfer of training, 271. 
Trial-and-error learning, 2 25ff. 

Universality, 82. 

Unlearned behavior, 100. 
Unlearnedness, 82. 

Use, law of, 22of. 

Vernon and Allport, 384. 
Visceral activity, 322. 

Voelker, 382T 

Wang, C. H., 411. 

Warmth, maintenance of, 45. 


Watson, J. B., 5, 89, 91, 281, 307, 
3 I 5 f-> 411 - 

Watts, F., 269. 

White, William A., 306. 

Woodworth, R. S., 122, 227T, 235, 
255 > 3 Si, 395. 

Work, and mental health, 41 yf.; 
hazards, 429; period of, 268ff.; 
satisfaction and, 428. 

Working conditions, and learning, 
268. 

Wundt, Wilhelm, 4. 

Yerkes, R. M., 94, 340, 343.; and 
Bloomfield, 94. 

Zwaardemaker, H., 134. 








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